Till Death Do Us Part
by Sick Twisted Mind
Summary: This shouldn't be possible. He doesn't even have a soul; you can't have a *soulmate* without a soul. And you certainly can't have a soulmate that's a sidekick for the good guys. Especially when you're the Lord of Chaos. Klarobin/WitchBoyWonder/KlarionxDick
1. Fascinate

_Welcome to my little story!_

_So like any good Klarion/Robin fan, you've already gone and read '_Scientifically Supernatural_' by SParkie96, which was a huuuuuuge inspiration in this creation._

_I'd like to say thank you to **Rose Hunter**; she played a big part in the making of this, going through my writing and giving me opinions and ideas. In fact, a lot of the last scene is from an idea she gave me. She's also an expert with Klarion, so that helped a lot too; she's definitely my little FF angel! :D_

_This took about two (2!) weeks to write and came out to be 20 pages (including the A/N here and at the bottom), it's the longest thing I've ever written (my past record was 8 pages, so I'm pretty happy!), please don't be shy to criticize or point out my mistakes._

**_This is rated T for slight swearing, light violence and implications of sexual arousal._**

_Enjoy!_

* * *

The first time he hears of the child, Klarion is _pissed_. Of course, everything even slightly off from what he wants infuriates him, but he does _not_ tolerate people attempting to steal from him.

It's immediately after an incident at Cadmus. Doctor Desmond requires a meeting with all of them when a problem arises concerning Project Kr. Klarion is not happy, not happy indeed. The only reason he isn't freaking out is because the little thieves were caught before too much damage was done and are now in their possession. Perhaps Project Kr is not exactly_his_, but Cadmus and its creation are created to serve him..._and _the Light, but no one cares about them.

"Three sidekicks," oh how he loves the trembling fear in Desmond's voice caused just by their _presence_! "Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash..."

_Robin_. Really...that's it? He snickers to himself, what high and mighty hero in the making got a _name_ for a title? The other two give some sort of indication at what they're for - Aqua, something to do with water, and Kid Flash must be of some relation to the infamous Flash - and of course 'Klarion the Witch Boy' takes the bare minimum of brain cells to understand what he's about, but Robin is nothing more than a name, five silly letters with no significance.

Hardly threatening.

Yet, this _Robin_ had managed to break into 52 sublevels of genomorphs and all that ridiculous technological security (which Desmond _swore_ was impenetrable) and battle against Superman's clone (and not die) with only two other companions.

Maybe a _little _threatening.

The rest of Desmond's words simply float in the air around his head, nothing but the gist of it all breaching his ears: the sidekicks freed Project Kr (his claws dig painfully into his palms at this news. How _dare _they try to take what was his!), the clone was still under control (his claws are stained slightly red when he releases his own flesh and relaxes with that news), the Justice League is unaware their young partners are there. Hmm, more interesting information, but Klarion stores only the names of the infuriating troublemakers that dare to cross the Light.

"What should I do with them?" Shaky. Unsure. Willing to obey whatever answer he's given. Klarion enjoys this pathetic Desmond more with every passing second.

"Clone them. The substitutes will serve the Light. And _only_ the Light."

"And the originals?"

"Dispose of them. Leave no trace."

Of course he agrees with the decision. Anything that threatens the Light as much as they do could only serve them or perish.

But Klarion still sighs. It would have been nice to see what made this Robin character - super power unknown - threatening enough to be cloned and disposed of. The clones never quite capture everything about their originals.

The first time he hears of the child, Klarion is almost disappointed at the end of it all.

* * *

The time comes around when the Light is informed that all the little kiddies escaped with their Project Kr and, to top it off, this _Robin_ person destroyed the cloning chambers containing his, Aqualad's and Kid Flash's DNA. The announcer is some freaky genomorph named Dubbilex who refuses to flinch away with their shouts of rage at the deliverance of the news.

Klarion sends a wave of anger and energy at the closest thing to him. He is so blinded with fury that he can't even remember what the object was before it became rubble and ash.

He assumes the rest of the Light doesn't take the news much better, but he doesn't care what their actions are. How dare these worthless _children_ take what is his? How dare they interfere with his plans? How dare they not shrink back in fear from him and his colleagues? Klarion's anger spreads further when this genomorph, _their own creation_, does not reel in terror from their uncontrollable anger.

The pops and cracks of destruction are drowned out in one his infamous tantrums (which he does not have _half_ as often as Ra's al Ghul claims, thank you very much) and he even loses his vision for a while when all he sees is red. Teekl scrambles from his lap, scurrying about between explosions as he destroys item after item, bits of everything everywhere, the sharp shrapnel of it all reflecting his own dangerous mood.

Who are these little brats? Why are they so intent on messing up the Light's plans? Why were they even in Cadmus to begin with?

Who in the _hell_ is this little _Robin_ sidekick whose name keeps his abilities in the dark and was smart enough - in the midst of _running for his life_ - to destroy their essence of him and his friends? Why can't his name give some sort of hint as to what he can do? Why are this mystery child and his friends causing more chaos in the Light than the Lord of Chaos himself?

Another question bubbles in the with boy's mind that unleashes something much more terrifying than anger in Klarion, an emotion whose name he is completely unsure of.

_Why is he plagued with so much curiosity about this little good-doer?_

* * *

Thankfully, the curiosity fades with new things, _better_ things than just pondering a silly sidekick whom Klarion doesn't even have a face to match with.

More than a month passes in the human world before Klarion is reminded of Robin. Sensei informs them all of the successfully retrieved S.T.A.R. Labs Intel and Klarion gives a silent, sarcastic cheer. He doesn't really care much for any of that nonsense and is blind as to how it helps them. In fact, he hadn't even wanted to show up to this meeting at all.

"But the Wayne Tech intel...still _eludes _us."

'_Why should we care again_?' He drums his fingers on Teekl's head who meows a ruffled meow at him and his sharp claws. He joined the Light because it seemed like _fun_, not to be bored to death and back within the time span of any meeting they've ever had.

"Once again, the young _heroes _interfere, so it's..."

Ra's al's voice fades into simple background noise as Klarion's ears _finally _pick up on something good. Young heroes? Once again? When had young heroes interfered with them?

He can't even remember whatever it is they're talking about when rage swells in him, beginning in the pit of his stomach and spreading out until Teekl jumps off his lap when his black claws curl into her fur with the strong, unrecognizable emotion flowing through her master.

The anger courses through him and brings along the memories of the escaped Project Kr. The little twats that broke into their top facility. The failed attempt to make more clones out of power-wielding sidekicks. The destroying of Cadmus.

How could he have forgotten about the brats? Foiling the Light's nearly-half year plan in just an hour! Those were _not_ enemies to be forgotten about.

Yet, he can not remember all of their names. The only name that comes to mind is...Robin.

The fury drains at the name and Klarion is left standing amidst a wreckage he had been unaware he was causing.

Robin. Ah yes, the little sidekick who confused him so and had rather impressed the witch boy without ever actually meeting.

The little twerp and his friends (Klarion can still not remember their names) had gotten in the way again, protecting Cadmus' associates and even destroyed the Fog.

Surprisingly, Klarion just slumps back in his chair once more and stares at the static screen. When had the Light ended the meeting with Sensei? It doesn't matter. He takes a weary look around at so many destroyed possessions. He doesn't remember owning so much useless crap. He huffs out a breath of _whatever_; it's not like he had any use for human objects.

He attributes his lack of reaction to the strong anger burst he just had moments beforehand, but it doesn't seem quite right. One of their greatest weapons and most important plans had been ruined by _Robin_...and friends. He should be enraged with them all.

But he isn't.

He's almost...impressed.

Strange.

Then again, the emotion seemed to come into play a lot whenever the little Robin is a part of something.

* * *

He can't help it, he is _interested_ in the Robin character. Well, more interested in why he's so impressed by a sidekick he had never heard of up until the human's last month, but since when does he care about details?

So he began asking around, pestering members of the Light (for information on _all_ the sidekicks as to avoid suspicion), drifting through human newspapers for any news of the little hero in the making (he never found a single picture of him in any paper, apparently Robin was a little camera shy), getting what he could out of anyone he knew who had a link to the human realm.

There is _so much_ to the child!

His full title is Robin, the Boy Wonder; Klarion scoffs at that. It gave him no further idea of what the boy's abilities are, though the name confirmed that Robin is indeed a boy and that Klarion hasn't been incorrect to refer to the child so often as a 'he'.

As if the Lord of Chaos could ever be wrong.

The child is also the first ever side-kick of a Justice League member. That piece of information quickly changed Klarion's attitude from impressed to _awed_. Robin was becoming more special with every bit of news.

The boy is the youngest sidekick as to date; one of the founding members of the original Young Justice; a mere _13_ years old (Klarion grins at the age: 13, the unluckiest number to exist); protege to the Batman (see? Something to do with bats, why couldn't the sidekick be as simple?) who's some famous Gotham hero...without actual powers.

And apparently the little Robin followed suit.

No super strength.

No flight.

No element manipulation.

No _anything_.

_...What_?

He has to re-cap it all: some helpless young boy had proven himself to be of value to the world's greatest protectors? An ordinary child had earned the title 'Boy Wonder' while having nothing of wonder? A boy at the earliest stages of becoming a teenager was seen best-suited to be the youngest of a team of life-risking children?

One everyday, off the streets _kid_ had outwitted the Light, freed the Man of Steel's clone, hacked into 52 sub-levels of scientific monsters, destroyed the Fog and stood up to him and his 'co-workers' without so much as a second thought to the consequences.

Klarion can't get his head around it.

Some sidekick _without powers_ had done all that?

And that, _that_, is the fact that twists Klarion's curiosity about the Boy Wonder into pure fascination.

* * *

His fascination festers and blooms over the next week and Klarion is beginning to get rather angry with himself. The Lord of Chaos can not afford to be to so...so..._infatuated_ with a human! A bloody _non-powered_ human!

So that's why when Teekl - who's been bored for days just sitting around with her master - meows an idea of attempting to go for the Helmet of Fate once more, Klarion crushes his familiar to his chest in a silent cry of thank you.

Ugh, he had been desperate enough to show a sign of gratitude.

At least it's only to Teekl.

So he enlists Abra Kadabra, some phony magician whose ego is almost as big as his own, but it's better than just looking for more news on the stupid Boy Wonder.

They kidnap Kent Nelson, torture him, he's stubborn, yadda yadda.

Klarion squirms a little too happily in his seat while watching the pathetic old man once used to house Nabu's power get electrocuted over and over and bites his lip with every groan of pain; he can't help it: he wouldn't be the Lord of Chaos if he wasn't a _little _sadistic.

Or a lot.

Shut up.

Then Teekl, the little ball of fur who suggested it all, meows and purrs that a group of sidekicks is outside their very building at this exact moment and Klarion all but leaps from his front row seat of the glorious Torture Nelson concert and flies over to where Teekl meowed their position is, leaving the cat behind in the excitement.

And then the excitement fades to disappointment.

He has been keeping tabs on Robin and friends and knows there are _six_ members of the Young Justice Clowns, alas, there are only _five_ outside.

Two are girls, so Klarion ignores them as soon as he spots them. One he recognizes as Project Kr and bites back the urge to use his magic to take back his weapon. There's a red-head, but he had ran into the group in little more than blur, and Robin wouldn't be Robin if he had a power, so the speedster is also ignored; the power of the ginger sidekick sounds familiar, Klarion was probably suppose to remember the boy for something, but nevermind that. The last member is dark-skinned and tall, managing to hold his head high with humbleness. He is..._uninteresting_ to say the least. Mature-looking. Dull. The Lord of Chaos may have sunken low enough to be fascinated with a human (not even a super hero...or super sidekick. Whatever.), but the Lord of Chaos is _not_ low enough to be fascinated by a _boring_ human.

So the little Robin hadn't come with them?

Anger and confusion (the later the cause of the former) bubble in his stomach, but Teekl hops into his arms and nuzzles against him in her only attempt to ever calm him as Abra arrives with Nelson right behind.

Inhale.

Pet Teekl.

Exhale.

Robin's probably not that interesting in person anyway. He'd just be a disappointment.

Inhale.

Don't even think about Boy Bloody Wonder.

Exhale.

Scratch behind her ear.

Keep calm.

He has to do _something_ to release just a bit of all the pent up emotion, so Klarion happily mocks Abra and his pretend magic with some scientific words the blonde girl and Speed Boy deemed the illusions to be, his grin faltering when the magician admits rather quickly to it all.

No Robin meant no interest in the team, so they take off. He and Abra use Nelson as a hostage into the Tower, travel through a maze of upside down staircases, Nelson is too stubborn for his own good, Abra tortures him and Klarion licks his lips with sadistic glee.

But then Blondie and Speed Boy burst in and Klarion isn't even sure how they managed to do it, but there they are laying on the floor not too far away. They conjure Nelson over with his own staff (who very rudely knocks into Klarion on his flight) and disappear in an elevator Nelson manages to create and everything just went from bad to worse to temper tantrum time in all of 30 seconds.

Being the Lord of freaking Chaos, there were few times Klarion was ever denied what he wanted. And it just so happens that he wants the Helmet of Fate and Blondie and Speed Boy are taking off with his only access to it.

So he throws a fit, shooting out beams of pure energy to allow his anger an escape, but the elevator shuts in time to protect the three people he loathes so much at the moment.

The elevator should have disintegrated once his magic hit it.

But whatever.

He and Abra wander around the maze of trippy steps in silence until voices reach witch ears and they take off in the direction. He and the faux magician see six people standing together and Klarion's immediately enthralled; Robin has finally shown up! But then he remembers one of the six is Nelson and his rage with the elder is doubled for the false hope his figure had instilled.

Abra takes care of four of the twerps while he flies with a hissing Teekl in his arms into the bell to follow Nelson and the other little hero.

They're on a roof and Nelson dies and the Speed Boy puts on the Helmet and unleashes Nabu and Teekl is hurt and Klarion dispatches in a puff of smoke after he loses. Well, the Lord of Chaos never _loses_, he simply retreats...after not winning.

So no Helmet of Fate to rule the worlds with and back to his own boring realm until he nurses Teekl back to health so he can be stabilized in the human world once more.

Sigh.

It's not long for Teekl to heal, just days in the human world, but Klarion doesn't enjoy the people from his realm (though he doesn't particularly enjoy people from the human realm either), they always think the Lord of Chaos is up to no good.

They're always right of course.

But he's still bored and _almost_ a little lonely, so Klarion spends his immeasurable time in his home realm petting Teekl and occasionally being kind enough to feed her warm milk from a bottle as she snuggles against him with her bandaged side up. Teekl usually makes for good company, but not while injured, so he wastes most of the endless time with his thoughts.

Not thoughts about where his plan went wrong.

Not thoughts of what he'll tell the Light for why he's been gone so long.

Not angry thoughts at any of the wannabe heroes or Nelson or even Nabu.

Just thoughts about why a certain sidekick didn't show up to the battle.

And a few on why he is so disappointed by the absence.

* * *

It is becoming...frustrating to say the least. Klarion hates himself for being so obsessed with the Boy Wonder and for someone as self-absorbed as Klarion, it takes a _lot_ to hate yourself.

But being the Lord of Chaos and existing for as long as he did, few things in any realm are enough to fascinate you. He has seen (and played a part in) the collapsing of entire civilizations, the slaughter of millions, the torture of the innocent that gave him a grin the Joker would envy.

He' seen it _all_. But the concept of Robin just..._eludes_ him. Klarion chuckles at that; he even picked up _eluded_, the word best used to describe the boy, from a meeting about Robin and friends.

Then he scowls; this is _not_ a laughing matter.

Since his mind has decided it will only think of Robin, Klarion thinks about why _this_ certain sidekick stood out from the others; what is it that makes him so special? Then he realizes he doesn't know who the other little heroes are. There had been several other mini-heroes that helped Nelson out, but he can't seem to remember anything about any of them. He does his best to recall what he was told about the other Super Hero Wannabees while he was finding out all he could about Robin, but his mind had only picked up the information for the one he was interested in.

Perhaps he is interested in all of the sidekicks? The only reason Boy Wonder stood out in the beginning was because _Robin_ is a mysterious name that suits the little threat Klarion originally knew nothing about. So maybe he isn't truly fascinated with Robin per se, but sidekicks in general.

Although being intrigued by _all_ the kiddies wouldn't be much better - in fact, it would probably be worse - Klarion refuses to pout alone in his throne in either realm and ponder over every detail of the sidekick he can't understand. If he's as curious about the rest of them as Boy Wonder, at least he can feel better by assuring himself that he's mostly fascinated by the actual _power-wielding_ ones.

It's a shame he can't remember even their names or who is whose protege. After all the things the other members of the Light had told him, he only listened for the information on Robin.

Sigh, he has to go ask the Light more questions.

He hates being social.

* * *

The Light doesn't have another meeting for almost a month and a half in the human's time and when they all finally meet together, Klarion is more than put off that none of them noticed his absence for the time he was in his home realm nursing Teekl. Hmph, they should be a little more _appreciative_ of the Lord of Chaos being on their ridiculous team.

No matter, Vandal speaks of Kobra Venom and someone mentions Black Mantra and someone does this and that and talks of whatever the Light members talk about. He actually has no idea what they ever talk about because he always does the same thing at every meeting: sleep. Nothing breaches his ears as Klarion kicks his feet up on their table (atop of some papers he probably should be reading over, but what fun is life if you do everything you're told?) and falls into a gentle snooze like usual until someone nudges his chair and his dark irises flicker open to a room of disgruntled Light members glaring at him and his barely conscious form.

"We are done here L-7," Queen Bee stands up, straightens her shirt and dusts off her shoulders, allowing her angry glare at the witch boy to falter, "unless you have something more to add."

"Why is he permitted to sleep, yet still have the ability to add anything to a meeting?" Ra's al isn't happy, but then again he rarely is.

"Well," Klarion draws the word, lingering on the 'e' more than is ever necessary, "if the Lord of Chaos, someone needing rest _once a year_ is bored into sleep by your meetings, I don't think _you_'re in the right to complain." He relishes in the scowl that spreads over Vandal's face and the other members follow suit.

"But I actually did have something more to add." The scowls are wiped away with a washcloth of surprise; he never spoke at the meetings unless it was to be a distraction or answer a question or tell someone which of their orifices he will gladly shove their own head up if they try to wake him once more. "I'm curious of the...Little Heroes?" He places a sharp claw delicately to his lips in wonder. "Is that what they're called?"

"The Young Justice," Luthor corrects him.

"Yeah, yeah, the kiddies," Klarion waves his hand about, representing the sweeping away of the details, swings his feet off the table they all surround and sits up straight; it's a rare occasion for them all to listen to him and he will not waste it.

"What about them?" Queen Bee exhales the question in an exaggerated breath, sitting back down to listen to the witch boy.

"Who are they all? Some snot-nosed brats have taken so much of ours and destroyed whatever they left, yet we don't see them as a threat?"

"_Brats_? Isn't _that_ the pot calling the kettle black. Why all the questions for the Young Justice, L-7?" Queen Bee fires back in a mocking tone, singing with underlying meaning that she knows something he does not, but Klarion shrugs off the tease. How can she possible know something about him he is unsure of?

"Well, L-Whatever Number You Are, I don't like the idea of _children_ taking my things!" That's more than enough justification and he smirks when her mocking eyes turned into fierce, glaring orbs.

"Fine," Savage declares with a heave. "What is it you want to know, L-7?"

He had expected to just be given information, not to be asked questions. He wants to _receive_ answers, not give them. But thankfully Klarion's mouth takes charge before his brain can re-act.

"How many are there?"

"I do believe there are 6 of them, since Harper's no longer affiliates himself with them," Luthor answers first and without missing a beat. Klarion awards the quick answer with one of his infamous smirks.

"Their names?"

"There is Project Kr, Aqualad, Robin," Klarion forces himself to stay calm when Salvage runs past the name. He is there to learn about _all_ of them, not dote on the Boy Wonder, "Kid Flash, Artemis and Miss Martian I believe."

Artemis? Huh, that keeps the abilities of the sidekick in the dark as well...but he doesn't care. Why doesn't he care about that one?

"Which superhero are they all attached to?"

"Project Kr is with Superman obviously," Queen Bee sneers at him, but Klarion waves a hand nonchalantly at her and her attitude.

"Yes, of course, with Aqualad being connected to Aquaman, Robin is the protege of Batman," Klarion rolls his eyes; there are few things left about Robin he doesn't already know. But he isn't suppose to be thinking of Robin at the moment, "Artemis is with Green Arrow," well he replaced their first ever mind-controlled idiot; Artemis was some kind of archer.

Kinda interesting.

Wait for it...

Wait...

Nope, he still doesn't care.

Nevermind.

"Kid Flash is the sidekick of the original Flash and Miss Martian works with Martian Manhunter," Vandal finishes and looks up at the Lord of Chaos with tired eyes and Klarion hates himself just a little bit more. Everyone is bored about these sidekicks, just like he should be, but his obsession with Robin keeps him aching with the chance he can be fascinated by them all.

"What do we know about each?"

"More information than we can recite in the time we have left," Luthor tells him and he pinches the bridge of his nose. "Look L-7, if you're really that interested in the sidekicks," he reopens his portable computer do-dad that he brings to every meeting, "I have all the information we have on them in here. Would you like to keep this with you until the next meeting?"

His first reaction is to snarl at the ridiculous proposition; he will not lower himself to using _human_ technology! But it's such a perfect opportunity to find out _everything_ about Robin - er, _all _the sidekicks. Luthor digs _deep _into anything regarding any enemy or ally.

So Klarion begrudgingly agrees to use a human item and he is left in the room with the strange device illuminating him and everything behind him. Luthor gives him the basics of how to type and when to plug what into where and other things until Klarion's excitement and pent up frustration forces themselves out in a snarl of "The Lord of Chaos knows how to work a_toplap_ you bumbling fool!" Luthor glares at him, then raises an eyebrow with a small smile on his lips, but leaves silently and Klarion smirks at his success in getting the other to obediently leave.

He opens up a 'document', scowling, yet amazed, at how his finger on a little pad can move the arrow on the screen. And they say what _he_ practiced is black magic!

The file is in alphabetical order, so Artemis the Archer is first up. A picture of a young blonde teen with a solid green mask covering the eyes and neck appears with little trivial details beneath it.

Klarion draws in a sharp intake of breath at the picture; he has no idea what Robin looks like! The stupid sidekick he's been so fascinated by and he hasn't even thought about what the boy's appearance might entail! He's young, but how young? What if he's a toddler? What if he's missing an limb? What if he-

"Shut _up_," Klarion growls at the questions. He doesn't know what the boy looks like, big whoop. Robin is the one sidekick he _isn't_ suppose to be thinking about.

Anywho, back to Artemis. Klarion notices the long blonde hair and thick eyelashes and grimaces when he remembers referring to Artemis as a _he_. Oh well, it's not like he has a conscious to make him feel bad. She's 15, a master archer, the sidekick to Green Arrow, the _daughter of Sportsmaster and Huntress_? Now that's interesting, a little hero trying so hard to break the family line!

Klarion grins - not smirks - at the fact that Artemis interests him. So it isn't just the Boy Wonder; he lets out a long sigh of relief while reading more into her story. Her mother took a fall for her father crippling herself for life...her mother went to prison for 6 years...and her sister is Cheshire - more villainous blood? - who ran away after their mother left...she lived with Sportsmaster until her mother returned from prison...family torn apart...

Klarion wakes himself up when his unconscious body sags forward and his head smacks the table.

"Stupid blonde archer," he pouts under his breath, applying steady pressure to his bruised forehead. Artemis had the best chance - she's even _powerless_ like Robin! - but her story bored him to sleep faster than any Light meeting.

She's interesting...just not fascinating.

Next is Aqualad, one he recognizes from the night when he tried to take the Helmet of Fate and Klarion remembers feeling the dullness literally _radiate_ off this one and he goes to the next profile before Aqualad's information can bore him to sleep as well.

Kid Flash (apparently his name isn't Speed Boy), the same kid who allowed Nabu to possess him, is third. He's an interesting character, a little cocky and too brave, but he is _certainly_no Robin.

Miss Martian, one of the 13 nieces of Martian Manhunter (Klarion shushes the voice reminding him 13 is Robin's age), is a shape shifter, came from another planet, can read minds and use telekinesis. She's pretty too...for someone with green skin. No mask hiding any features, red hair and auburn eyes. Why can't he be fascinated with someone like her? Someone with _powers_, someone of the opposite gender, someone he wouldn't be embarrassed to be so heavily interested in?

_You are _not _embarrassed of Robin_.

Klarion jumps, startled at the voice and whips around, hands glowing red to either attack or get revenge on whoever is spying on him. But no one is there. Nothing has moved. The door is still shut. The only noise is the sound of his own harsh breathing.

He heard the voice, he _knows_ he heard it.

But he's the only one there.

Klarion takes in a shaky breath and relaxes, allowing his hands to fade back to their original corpse-pale color and drop to his sides. He gives his head a hard shake and sits back down, his spine firmly pressed against the back of the chair.

Miss Martian, as much as he wants her to (as much as he _needs_ her to), does not fascinate him.

He skips Project Kr, he already knows everything about Superman's clone from the files he looked through when the experiment was first released by Robin and friends.

So the last one left is Robin the Boy Wonder himself.

Klarion clicks the next file that leads to the object of his fascination.

As for all the other ones, the first thing to pop up is Robin's pictures and Klarion's mouth opens -

In a scream of _agonizing_ pain.

It feels as if his organs are expanding, stretching him past his limit, like someone is blowing up a balloon in his chest and won't stop no matter how constricted things get. Klarion gives a long howl of hurt, arching away from the chair before collapsing forward onto the ground. It's a pain going on for infinity, ripping his insides and tearing the blood-curdling screams - the ones he has come to love hearing from others - out of his own throat.

His stomach burns.

His abdomen twists and stretches.

His lungs beg for more oxygen no matter how many times he inhales.

A final shriek escapes the pain of what is going on in his body before Klarion hears a shout of "L-7!" and then the room and the noises and the pain cease to exist.

* * *

When he finally comes to, Klarion has no idea where he is. He remembers everything, the want (more like desperation, but desperate wasn't a word to describe the Lord of Chaos._Ever_) to be mesmerized by all the little sidekicks, the files, the _boredom_, the pain that ripped through his soul (well, _would have_ ripped through his soul if he had one) and wrenched noises from him that he wasn't aware he could make.

So he sits up and looks around at the stark whiteness of everything, making him almost _uncomfortable_ in his black suit: walls, tables, cots, the floor, the lab coats of people running to and fro.

"Excuse me," he tries to snarl, but his voice catches in his raw, sore throat which cuts and dices the words into deep rasps.

They still notice him awake and scurry out of the room at his intense gaze. Luthor comes in a moment later, followed by Queen Bee and Ra's al with a ruffled Teekl in his arms.

"Klarion, wh-"

He cuts Luthor off with a swish of his hand. "_L-7_," he corrects in his hoarse voice. He does _not _want to be on a first name basis with any of them. Teekl leaps from Ra's al's arms and lands gracefully into her master's lap, pushing at the cloth on his suit pants until she sees it fit to curl up and lay down in.

Queen Bee smirks her ugly little smirk that drives the witch boy mad. "_Klarion_, Luthor explained that he found you screaming on the ground beneath the table. Is the little Lord of Chaos afraid of the dark?"

He opens his mouth to tell her that with a voice like hers, no Biaylan man would ever willingly try to help her produce an heir for her precious country (which he could set fire to the entire place and all things in it in less than five minutes), but his own voice gets caught on the way.

"Do not try to speak, L-7," Luthor commands and Klarion is _so close_ to incinerating the bald man, but it's probably not the best idea in his weakened state.

Weakened state.

How did this happen again?

He can't ask the question and he does not need to. Ra's al explains in his sober tone that Klarion had gone on screaming in his unconsciousness, but the noise quickly became groans and whines until he just laid in silence for a very long time.

They had checked the room.

No one was in there but Klarion.

Luthor brought him to the closest thing they have to an infirmary (which Klarion silently scoffed at. Really, this is the best medical spot in the building? If they were ever attacked here, they'd all die), called all the members of the Light (since apparently they were the closest thing to 'family' he has. And only 2 out of 6 show up? Yeah, Klarion can really feel the family bond they all share) and ran a few tests on him (without his permission? Oh, he and his wannabe medics were going to get it).

"What happened in their, Klarion?" The witch boy scowls at the informal use of his name, but Luthor hands him a pad of paper and a pencil anyway; Klarion pushes it away and shrugs. He doesn't know what happened and if he remembers the pain _half_ as strong as it really was, Klarion isn't sure he _wants _to know what happened.

He had been..._scared_. Not of the pain or of dying, but scared at the vulnerability he had. He had been screaming in pain, withering on the floor; the Lord of Chaos does _not_ scream or wither. Something had broken him down, found a way into his system, taken away the protection his immortality gave him. And that was..._terrifying._

He doesn't want to think about it. Whatever tried to hurt him only worked for so long, it's out of him now. If they let it go, everyone can just pretend it never happened. He has work to finish anyway.

Klarion hands the notepad back and wiggles his fingers in front of him in a mock-act of hitting the letters like Luthor did all the time on his stupid human contraption but the bald man, Queen Bee and Ra's al simply stare at him and Klarion internally groans (since his throat won't let the noise out properly) and snatches the notebook back out of Luthor's hands to scribbles his desire on it.

"You're left-handed Klarion," Queen Bee states, one black eyebrow arched in question.

The witch boy rolls his eyes, but it's true: his chicken scratch handwriting comes from a pen in his left hand. Does that usually happen? Whatever, it doesn't matter. He shoots her a look of '_duh_' to hide his own puzzlement and just to give her an attitude, before handing the notepad back to Luthor.

"Toplap?" He murmurs and furrows his brow. "You mean _laptop_?"

They called him by his actual name, commanded him to not speak and are now _correcting_ him? Oh, these _fools_! The witch boy makes a silent vow to fry them all one day. But for now, he just nods his head and sends them away with a snobby flick of his wrist (which they all obey).

He relaxes on his cot and revels in the silence; as the Lord of Chaos, it's rare to hear nothing. So he enjoys the small peace of mind it gives him to think properly.

What happened in there? He knows he told himself to not think about it, but it was the first time he had ever been afraid. He had never been hurt like that before; although a couple of nasty battles (most with Nabu) left him a little shook up, _nothing_ had come close to feeling like that before.

He checks over Teekl by running his claws gently through her fur and listening for any meows of pain; nothing was wrong with her, she didn't even have a scar from where Nabu hit her. Nothing had attacked his precious familiar.

So something no one could see or sense found its way into his body and tried killing him from the inside?

His claws clench Teekl's fur in..._horror_. Something forms in the pit of his stomach - colder than ice, colder than anything he'd ever felt - and settles there, chilling his insides and sending shivers through his body. Klarion had never felt so pathetic, so weak, so _powerless_.

Powerless.

Is this what Boy Wonder ever feels like?

Ugh. Even thinking about _Robin_ is better than thinking of what happened.

And with that, the mere mention of the Boy Wonder, the ice in his stomach melts and simmers into a pleasant heat which runs shocks of warmth to chase away the chills.

He unclenches Teekl's fur and her meows of annoyance stop. Klarion lays back, concentrating on the heat that covers his body and snuggles him tightly. He groans slightly at the sensation, but his throat doesn't ache from the noise.

It's weird to not feel cold, to not feel like a corpse. It's never been _bad_ being cold - since his realm was little more than a chilly blackness that took a solid, white form as his own skin - but it was never even similar to the icy fear that had settled inside him before. Now, he feels...content with the temperature. Not hot, not cold, but simply warm and it's _weird_.

He has never felt warm before.

* * *

It's much longer than it should be for Luthor to bring his laptop in and Klarion debates on whether or not he should snap at the lazy service at the expense of his throat, but decides against it. They were probably having a meeting on what happened to him and Klarion's a little annoyed with it, but he can't help it if he's a more interesting topic than their other meetings. Luthor sets the device onto the witch boy's lap and leaves to turn away.

"How long was I out for?" He asks part of it out of curiosity, part to just disobey Luthor's earlier order. It hurts, but not enough to make him wince. It should have ached more, but he's still encased in warmth and it soothes his weary throat.

Luthor does not turn to face him, "Exactly a day." He takes his leave and the door clicks shut behind him.

He was unconscious for an entire day? Klarion scowls; he does not like the idea of being vulnerable, of not being awake to defend himself, for that long. or any amount of time. He doesn't think any of the Light would ever hurt him, but the idea of being unprotected makes the warmth fade and the icy feeling return and he clutches his stomach when he thinks he's going to puke.

Inhale.

Pay attention to Teekl.

Exhale.

The ice freezes his insides and Klarion's teeth are chattering from the coldness.

Inhale.

His teeth have never chattered before.

Exhale.

He has to do _something _other than lay here and shiver, so his shaky hands reach for the piece of technology Luthor brought in and opens it. The screen lights up and he can literally hear the _swoosh_ of the ice leaving his body when the first thing Klarion sees is Robin's picture.

Wow.

Robin is..._exquisite_.

Black feathered hair dances around his face and covers his forehead in silky wisps of bangs that end just atop a black-rimmed mask that covers his eyes with sheets of white and stops at the high cheekbones. A small, perky, button nose fits the middle of his face and settles above a gentle smirk. A delicate jaw frames the bottom of it all in between two pointed ears and everything about him is...

_Perfect_.

* * *

It's been two weeks, four days, seventeen hours, twelve minutes and fifty-three seconds since he saw Robin's picture. It's been two weeks, four days, seventeen hours, twelve minutes and fifty-four seconds since he saw Robin's picture. It's been two weeks, four days, seventeen hours, twelve minutes and fifty-five seconds since he saw Robin's picture.

It's been two weeks, four days, seventeen hours, twelve minutes and fifty-six seconds of torture.

It hadn't mattered what he tried, everything revolves around Robin now. And it should have been awful and devastating and frustrating, but Klarion is always...smiling. The upward pull of his mouth muscles is actually becoming sore with all the smiles.

He hates it.

No, he doesn't.

Yes, he does.

Klarion isn't even sure of how he feels about anything and it's confusing and making him stumble over his words and he's apprehensive of it all, but Robin won't leave his mind.

He played with Teekl on the eighth day and he only thought about whether Robin's hair is softer than a kitty's fur.

He actually stayed awake during the last Light meeting on the eleventh day (seeing as his never-resting mind forced him to be conscious at all times) and asked for paper to take notes. He couldn't even enjoy the shocked looks on all their faces because he immediately got to sketching Robin with his messy hair and handsome face structure.

He sat for _days_ in the room Luthor offered him in the human realm, just thinking thinking thinking about Robin.

It's all so strange, but Klarion doesn't want to change anything.

Yes, he does.

No, he doesn't.

_Yes_, he does.

He wants - he _needs_ - to meet Robin.

* * *

It's late and cold and dark, but he rarely sleeps and he feels like a corpse and he comes from a realm of black, so it's not too bad really.

The alley way below him is gritty and he can see the puddles of sludgy water because the light of the moon bounces off in a shiny white. The largest puddle breaks out into ripples as a scrawny man is thrown into it and the circles quiver out to the edges and slosh against the limits of the little pool.

"Please, I don't have your money yet! I just need more time!" Klarion scoffs at the pathetic attempts of lying. Even from so high above, perched precariously on a rooftop of a building lining the narrow alley, the reflection of moon light illuminates enough that he can see the formal business suit not unlike his own, the confident posture the man carries himself with, the suave haircut that reeked of well-doing, the...

Is the a gold wristwatch peaking from beneath the sleeve of his jacket?

How _stupid _can these humans be?

"Shut him up before the Bat shows up."

A swift punch is delivered to the rich man's stomach, stealing the air from wealthy lungs. Klarion arches his back ever so slightly with the wheeze of pain, but straightens himself out.

He's here on important business.

"We want our cut! We gave you what you needed to make it all, without us, you wouldn't have anything to sell!"

"I haven't been se-!"

"Three different guys have shown us the stuff they bought. _Your_ stuff. _Our_ stuff. You've been selling it behind our backs and we want our share." It's a big man, large and burly, who speaks last. His build is ridiculous, something even Sportsmaster would envy.

Teekl is silently licking her fur beside him and cleansing her paws of the muck on the rooftop, only to set them down into dirt once more. She meows in frustration and goes back to the same paw and is smart enough to set it on Klarion's clean lap once she rids it of as much grime as it will allow.

"If he keeps making noise, we're gonna get some unwelcomed guests."

Klarion wordlessly cheers at the unsettling fear in the thug's voice. His Robin instilled terror into the big, bad criminals that ran the streets...or alleys. Whatever.

Teekl is hissing at the dirt. Literally. She's glowering at a spot on the roof and hissing at the dust and filth there. Klarion flicks her kitty nose to hush her up and she turns her glower to her master. He sighs and lifts her up from beneath her tummy, setting her on his legs and she relaxes immensely at the clean lap (which her fur quickly dirties much to Klarion's dismay).

The criminals don't have another chance to harm the wealthier man when a mysterious cackle embraces the air and runs through the wind. Klarion almost screams in excitement. This is the moment he's been waiting _so long_ for! He wriggles in eagerness, peering closer at the alley way until he's teetering on the edge of falling and the men below him huddle together in fear as man in the puddle relaxes and twists his jacket to force some of the water out.

"Help! Help! I'm bein-!"

"I _know_ dude. That's why I'm here."

Klarion clasps a hand over his mouth, widened in a perfect 'o' with a muffled moan. That's what Robin sounds like? That harmonious song of a voice belongs to him? Klarion is practically _panting _with want for the musical tone. He doesn't dare remove his hand in case his noises of desire give away his position.

"How do you fellas wanna go? Peacefully without a butt-whoopin' or..." The voice leads off into an unspoken option with dire consequences. Klarion wants the other way; he wants to see a fight with Robin inflicting pain and showing off his fight skills.

The men give a wonderful impression of young girls as they shriek and split their pathetic circle attempt of protection. Klarion leans further off the edge, squishing Teekl between his chest and legs, and peers down. Robin stands, hands on his hips, right where the middle of the men's circle had been. He must have dropped in while all of them faced the outside, too busy looking for him to turn around and find who they were searching for.

Impressive.

One of the five men charges at Robin and swings a meaty fist, but Boy Wonder just ducks and sweeps a black-boot clad foot around to knock the man's feet out from beneath him. The man tips backwards and lands with a thud on his back, air _whoosh_ing from his lungs and Klarion bites his lower lip.

The man doesn't look bright enough to have thought out much of a plan for his weak attack, but he is at the very _minimum _two-and-a-half times Robin's small size. Boy Wonder certainly has strength.

"Anyone else wanna try something?" The voice is cocky, so full of confidence that he'll win no matter what, and it's lovely.

"The Bat's nowhere around. He can't take four of us at once. He's just a kid. A lot smaller than I'd imagine. Though I can see why everyone's desperate to get their hands on him," the other men snicker at the last comment that Klarion doesn't fully understand, yet it makes him uneasy anyway; nonetheless, he feels anger spreading through him at the man's doubt in Robin. Did he not just witness the _kid_ take down one of his fellow comrades in a single take of tricky footwork?

"Try what you want, we both know who's going to win." The anger replaces itself with a giddy feeling; Klarion can _hear_ the smirk on Robin's face.

"_You_," the largest thug points to the scrawny rich man who stood shaking behind them against the wall, "stay put. We're not finished with you."

"Yes you are."

"Shut your trap, Boy Wonder."

A short, curt nod is passed from criminal to criminal, even the idiot who attacked Robin and had his rear served to him on a silver platter by the 13-year-old stands back up.

Robin just shrugs nonchalantly and takes a pose that keeps him ready to strike at any moment.

Klarion can't miss this. He stands up on the edge and gathers Teekl in his arms, runs to a darker part of the building and simply jumps from the edge, floating down safely to the ground to hide in the shadows and watch a show.

It's as if they were all waiting for him because the moment his leather shoes touch the cement, the men charge at Robin.

Robin swings his arm down before they can reach him and a few pops are heard before a foggy green gas is suddenly all around them and Klarion scowls. It's a good thing the Lord of Chaos has been around so many fires; he's used to seeing through smoke to witness the chaos his flames create.

The red suit and small build helps Klarion decipher Robin from the rest. He has two black mini-rod like things in his hands ('_eskrima sticks_,' Klarion remembers. He knows _all _of Robin's weapons) and he's an expert with them. Robin knees one criminal in the stomach, who doubles over with the loss of air. Robin hits him hard in the back of the head with one stick and at the same time, without even turning around, swings his other arm backwards to hit one of the men behind him in the jaw using the other identical weapon.

Both men cry out loudly from their hits before dropping to the ground and for that, Klarion is grateful because his groan of excitement and sadism goes unheard.

Another coughs through the smoke and reaches for Robin's throat, but the Boy Wonder ducks and sneaks his foot behind the man to bring it forward and sweep the thug off his feet like he did to the first one. The man hits his head on the wall of the building Klarion was previously on and does not even attempt to get back up.

"That's the second time you fell for that dude, _literally_," Robin is hardly winded and even cackles at the end of his tease.

It's a cute cackle really.

The mocking noise is cut short when one of the only two criminals still standing grabs his black hair and yanks him backwards. Robin lets out a 'huh' of confusion and cry when his face is slammed against the wall.

_This_ shout of pain is not one the witch boy wants to hear.

Klarion steps out of his shadows. He has no idea what he's doing, but who doesn't like surprises?

He has a hand raised and the beginning of a spell on his lips, but Robin shocks both the Lord of Chaos and the man harming him when he twists in the tight hold and sends a fist into the criminal's nose. The man cries out and clutches his face, but Robin elbows him in the stomach and hits him in the temple with an eskrima stick. The man groans and slumps forward.

Klarion grins at the Boy Wonder's ability and steps back into his shadows and lifts Teekl up from where he dropped her in his moment to protect the teen, then the grin turns to a tight line.

He had been on the verge of protecting Robin, of protecting a _human_.

Not okay.

The fifth man is going to lose - it's inevitable - but he's not going down without a fight. He tackles Robin and they slide closer to Klarion's hiding spot; it's the one man of the group that never spoke, probably the smartest too: allowing his friends to go after the Boy Wonder first in an attempt to tire him enough to be easily taken down.

His sits on Robin's chest, his knees on either side of the boy's figure, pinning Robin's arms to the ground and begins slamming his fists into the boy's face. Robin's head is viciously whipped from side to side and Robin cries out for a few exceptionally hard hits.

Klarion clenches his fists; who the _hell_ does this spineless, worthless scum think he is to lay hands on _his _Robin? He steps out from his shadows again and the man can see him out of his peripheral vision. He looks up, eyes feral and insane, straight into Klarion's own burning red eyes. Suddenly, the man isn't so crazy looking, the sight of the witch boy sobers him up a decent amount.

Good.

Klarion wants him to be aware of what's happening when he burns the man alive.

"What...what the he-ah!"

Robin has used the distraction to swing his legs up, bend them at the knee over the man's shoulders and wrap them around the thug's torso from behind. He pulls backwards with his legs and sends the man flying as Klarion scoops Teekl up and retreats back into the darkness to hide. Robin jumps up, sways a little bit and launches himself at the man, picking up an eskrima stick along the way, and swings one hard blow at the man's temple.

Four of them men are unconscious and one is too dazed to move.

Robin is _far_ from powerless.

"Th...thank you, R-robin," it's the business man, who never moved from his position on the wall, with chattering teeth and a pale face. "I...I don't know what I could do to ever repay you. You just-."

"You can repay me by not putting up a fight," Klarion can hear the exhaustion in Robin's sweet and disoriented voice.

"Excuse me?"

"You're Robert LevRage, right? You're the biggest crystal meth dealer in the _state_. I'm assuming these," a grand gesture at the unconscious and whimpering men, "are the guys that have been getting you the ether you need for your business."

"I... How did..."

"I overheard part of your conversation with them and you look _insane_ly wealthy, dude. C'mon, I just saved your life from these fools, cut me some slack and just come quietly?"

The man sighs and slumps his shoulders. "I suppose you're right, Robin. I owe you, I'll come peacefully," the man hugs himself in what appears to be self-pity but...what is he reaching for?

"Aw, dude, that is totally asterous! I'll tell the police about your cooperation, maybe they'll-."

"On the other hand," the man cuts of Robin, "I owed them a _lot _more than I owe you," he grins nastily and outstretches his hand with a solid click.

He's holding a gun.

He's holding a gun at Robin.

He's holding a gun at _Klarion_'s Robin.

"Whoa, dude," Robin holds his hands up in a cautious motion. He's going a little slow, his fragile human skull took quite a beating from the thug earlier. "Don't do anything rash. Why did you make me come save your sorry behind if you had _that_?"

"I can't kill my only ether suppliers. I'll take a beating any day before trying to find someone with access to it. Anywho, I can't have you running about telling the police what my face looks like, can I? I'd never be able to go out in public again."

"Dude, Batman would _kill_ you."

"I'll take my chances."

"Stop! I mean..._stop_. We can talk this out."

"No, we can't. I'm not going back to jail. I _refuse_ to stay in any prison!"

"I saved your life!"

"And I'm ending yours. As you can tell from all of them," another grand sweep at the men on the ground, "I'm not very good at giving people proper repayment. It's a shame really; you wouldn't _believe_ the kinds of things the men I work with talk about doing to you."

There's a _leer_ in the man's chuckle, something suggestive and filthy and _wrong_ that angers Klarion enough to see red.

(Thankfully) Robin doesn't seem to understand the statement. He's looking around, the white of his mask framing his furrowed brows; Klarion can't see his eyes, but they're probably swimming and unfocused. He _can_ see the small trickle of blood at the base of Robin's neck coming from the back of his head and Klarion digs his claws into his palm. Robin is not up to normal speed, it's unlikely the boy is even fully aware of how dangerous the situation is.

"Goodbye Boy W-."

"_Kaerb sih dnah_!" A bright purple light extends itself from Klarion's outstretched hand and illuminates the alley way. The string of pure energy finds its destination at the back of the man's hand and the drug dealer shrieks in pain.

He shouldn't have done that, he knows that it's not his job to help people, but when the man's hand tightened on the gun, it set something inside him off. It twisted his stomach. It made the ice come back and he _hates_ the ice with such a fiery passion, it should melt just by coming into contact with him.

But it can never melt if Robin's hurt.

The man drops his gun and clutches his hand to his chest and Klarion soundlessly moves back into the protection of the shadows. Robin, in his bewildered state, freezes for a moment before running at the man, taking an elegant leap and kicking the man hard in the face.

The rich man drops to his knees before collapsing onto his face, dead asleep in a blissful world of unconsciousness.

Robin wobbly lands beside him, one hand bracing himself on the wall, gazing heavily in Klarion's direction.

"Did you do that kitty cat?"

What?

Oh, Teekl.

He should probably stop dropping her when he casts a spell.

He crouches down, never leaving the darkness and tugs on Teekl's tail until she slides back into the shadows with him. If Robin is delirious enough to ask a _cat_ (whom Robin has no telepathic link with like Klarion), it's time the little sidekick went home.

Robin's taking unsteady steps toward him and _oh crud_, this is not good. He's never suppose to protect anybody but him and Teekl; the Lord of Chaos does _not _help _humans_.

But isn't Robin an exception to everything?

Robin staggers closer and Klarion grins despite the situation. In the midst of a beating that should leave any human unconscious, after staring death in the eyes via a gun, when his body is just shaky enough to stand, Robin still does his duty, searching into the darkness for what saved his life but be a threat to others.

It's the very definition of dedication.

How sweet.

Klarion scopes Teekl up and whispers a hushed spell and can barely make out the thin outline of the veil now keeping him and Teekl invisible to Robin. The Boy Wonder comes a little closer, he's got red metallic weapons in the shape of bats (they must be the batarangs) in each hand and wavering steps.

Klarion levitates just a few inches above the cement (because as much as he loves the sophisticated sound of his shoes _click_ing on the ground, it's not the best for trying to stay hidden) and drifts precautiously away, waiting until he is positive his whisper will be out of ear-shot.

"Evah Namtab dnif mih. _Won_."

No bright, showy light is needed for the spell that will force Batman to find his protege, so Robin senses nothing as his steps become shakier. Klarion drifts further and further, eyes never leaving Robin's delicate form, until he's far enough away to open a vortex up and go anywhere that's not here.

* * *

_So I actually haven't watched that many Young Justice episodes...I feel like a fraud admitting that. However, the DVDs are scarce in my area and I hate watching shows or movies online, so it's been difficult to see them all. Truth be told...__**I'm only on episode 5 of the first season**__. Artemis hasn't even come in yet, let alone the Lord of Chaos himself. I've just been reading the plot of every episode Klarion is in on the Young Justice wiki site._

_I tried to put some mention of the 'Downtime' episode, but I was confused since I haven't actually seen it and it was too difficult, so I skipped it._

_Also, I know Klarion is _**a **_Lord of Chaos and not _**the **_Lord of Chaos, but it's sounds so much cooler if he's the only one :D_

_So again, this is 20 pages long, no doubt I missed a mistake here or there, especially with grammar (since this was originally suppose to be Klarion reflecting back on all the times he heard of Robin, then it all just got switched to present tense). So tell me where errors are (give me the exact sentence please)_

**_Question of the Chapter:_**

_What's a better name for this couple? _**Klarobin**_? Or _**WitchBoyWonder**_? Or other?_


	2. Withdrawn

_A quick thanks to all of my lovely 16 favoriters and my 21 followers and my 10 reviewers! Y'all're the best!_

_This chapter is pretty much 'Misplaced' with a twist._

* * *

For the past month of the human's realm, he's being going _crazy_ and he hates it. He can't stop it, it's like Robin is some sort of addiction for him and he has been having _severe_ withdraws from it.

He has open wounds all down his back from his own claws tearing into his shoulder blades when he hugs himself in pathetic confusion, wobbly knees that create uneasy steps in his usually confident stride and shivers from that _blasted _ice in his stomach! He _despises_ the awkward looks the Light members have been giving his shaking form at every meeting and the feeling to vomit that he's become far too accustomed to.

He doesn't even need to breathe, but with every passing day of the human's, he's gasping and nearly hyperventilating and choking on the air in his throat and _damn it_ this has to _stop_! He can't go on, he's so sure he's dying with every passing moment and it's all _Robin_'s fault!

So Teekl, the beautiful, amazing, wondrous feline that she is, purrs to him her own plan of seeking out Nabu.

Klarion is so angry with what's happening to himself that he has his mouth already opened to shout at her that going to Nabu would only "making things _worse_, you stupid cat!" but she cuts him off.

_Nabu is the only other otherwordly Lord we know, the only other magic user to be within the human world. He must know something._

"And _why_ would he help me?"

_Your life is a disarray, a complete mess. Your life needs order, Klarion, and who would be more willing to help than the Lord of Order?_

Good point.

"How would we even contact him? He needs a host and only the kiddies have his Helmet."

_Do something chaotic enough to require his help, you are not the Lord of Chaos for nothing, I've been planning a few things out of my own as you go insane. Care to hear?_

"Fine."

Teekl hops into his lap and snakes her head beneath his hand to be scratched behind the ears and tells him of her plan: use the gem of Ambre Jeune Perdu and separate the sidekicks from their heroes to make them weaker and perfectly desperate for Nabu; be in a spot to be easily - but not so easily it was suspicious - found by the teens; have the newest member, some magic-wielding girl who's almost as big of a wannabe magician as Abra, summon the helmet to their use and surrender defeat if Nabu will answer some questions.

"Surrender defeat?" Klarion lets out an insane laugh. "No."

_How about at least calling a temporary truce?_

"Nabu _hates_ me, there's no way he'll play nice with me."

_You're lucky I hate seeing you in so much pain, Klarion. He knows you need me to stay here, offer me up to Nabu. If you're serious enough to do that and you're at his mercy - don't make that face, I'm helping you, child - he'll listen._

Give Teekl up to Nabu? Give Teekl up to _anyone_? It doesn't settle with the witch boy and he pulls his familiar closer to him in a rare act of protection. He has never been separated from her willingly in the nearly-hundred years he's been apart of the human world. It's longer than he has ever kept anything in his existence. The one and _only_ time they were parted was when he was unconscious for 24 hours, but for the most part, Klarion has successfully blocked that memory out.

_Klarion, you must speak to him. He will not hurt either of us if he sees how desperate you are._

"I am _not_ des-!"

_Yes you are. Do not argue with me on the matter. You must speak to him._

"Fine. I'm not going to be happy about it though."

_That's alright; you being happy with this was never part of the plan._

* * *

Of course, Klarion adds his own twists and bumps to the plan, but - surprisingly enough - everything is perfect.

He insanely relieved that all his hard-work is almost over; he hated being patient and sitting down to study each sidekick to predict their individual actions and consider every factor and prepping himself for any outcomes he didn't want to happen. Really, with a endless amount of time on his hands (because he really doesn't have friends in the human's realm...or his own...but he _likes_ it that way, thank you very much), it should have taken him just days to finish all the planning and what will happen when with who and such, but _stupid_ Robin has never stopped plaguing his thoughts or fascinating him or making him smile or giving him warmth or getting him off track with everything.

Not to mention the _withdraws _never worked their way out of his system like they should have; he's gotten so much worse in the weeks since Teekl first proposed to asking Nabu for help. His shakes have become unpredictable and violent, his scalp is sore from the many tugs on his own hair and sometimes he feels so sick that he locks the door and curls up in a ball until he catches the air he doesn't need.

And it's not easy to hide when his condition is written all over his appearance. He saw his reflection in a passing window and he just froze and stared at what used to be himself. He's gotten so much paler than what's considered healthy for people of his world, his eyes are underlined by grey-but-slowly-fading-to-black rings and he feels as though he's lost weight. Klarion's not even sure his weight can _change_, but it seems like it has and it's beginning to gnaw at him that it may have to do with the day he was attacked by an invisible force and was unconscious for 24 hours.

Just kidding.

Because that day _so _did not happen.

The thinking and planning that was suppose to be done and over with in no more than just a couple days went on for _three_ weeks until the witch boy is certain enough that his plan is fool-proof. He has processed every outcome, defeated every imaginary battle, conquered all events that Teekl meowed as possibilities and even traveled back to his home realm for some time to learn a few extra tricks and get the little jewel that will begin it all.

Now, it's time to put the plan in motion.

* * *

"Out of all the places on this stupid planet, you pick somewhere _muddy_?" Klarion sneers at the ginger cat in his arms who meows at him to _be quiet and be grateful_.

The two companions keep walking (while the wet dirt sticks annoyingly to the master's black shoes) until the witch boy settles for a clearing and Teekl leaps from his arms.

He sets the French-sounding gem down and watches as burning orange designs imprint themself onto the ground around it, vining and twisting precariously until an intricate circle is drawn with five designated areas glow brighter than the rest of it all. He summons four of the most powerful sorcerers in the world (though not as powerful as him. _Obviously_) and they appear one by one until all are present and they all begin chanting in German (which is the Lord of Chaos' favorite language; he liked the Germens so much better in the world wars, with all the killing and terror and _chaos_, but now they're 'at peace with the world'. Inwardly, he sighs, Hitler still had so many things to destroy before his too-early death, but whatever, it just left more things for Klarion to ruin himself).

He can feel the slight shift as two new worlds are created - both completely lost without the other, but no where in sight of one another - then Wotan, Blackbriar, Felix and Wizard disappear to their new world with a soft sizzle. He pouts that he's not considered an adult seeing as he's ageless _and _immortal, which is closer to being a grown-up than some child, but he's not complaining. If he wasn't stuck with kiddies, the plan would never work.

Personally, he thinks this is all rather boring. Gems and sorcerers and splitting adults and kids, la de da. He just stands here, thinking of the blasted Boy Wonder who caused all this and telling Teekl to shut up when she hisses at the dirt repeatedly.

"If you're so upset with being _dirty_, I'll give you a bath later." Oh, jeez. It's been so silent here that he almost jumps at the sound of his voice.

Teekl hisses at him before climbing into his arms to escape the never-ending soil.

He relishes in her warm body against his chest and, just like all the times Teekl tried to comfort him these past few weeks, is reminded once again that her centered body heat is nothing like the intriguing warmth that cocooned his body oh-so pleasantly the day after the _incident_.

Incident?

What incident?

He doesn't know what he's talking about.

Finally, after an eternity (well, two hours, the shortest eternity ever), things change ever so slightly. The leaves around him are rustling a bit harsher. A few specks of dirt are picked up and scattered by a wind that was not here just a moment ago. There's a soft ringing that he can just barely hear, maybe he's even imagining it, but he wasn't imagining it before. Klarion senses..._him_.

Mr. Plague His Thoughts Day and Night.

Boy Wonder.

Robin.

The presence he can't even see yet lights a little match inside him and he's _warm_ again, not just from Teekl's body, but from his _own_ and oh boy, does it feel _good_. He's not going to admit it, ever, but he believes he actually _missed_ the warmth from the day he laid in the infirmary of Luthor's building. It wraps around his body, all the way to the tips of his fingers loosely burried in Teekl's fur and forces a murmur of something satisfactory from his throat, but the witch boy's not sure what he's exactly trying to say.

But the warmth flees with Teekl's meow of panic and Klarion already knows what's going to happen, so he twists around with an outstretched hand and a bright pink, transparent shield forms itself from his palm.

When he spent three weeks preparing for every detail, he spent three weeks preparing for _every_ detail. He's grateful to his past self for so much thinking and predicting because the translucent orb stops three green arrows and three red batarangs.

Klarion releases a soft exhale of internal anguish. He already predicted Robin would be one of the first to attack him, but that didn't make it any less painful.

One thing he didn't plan on was being _hurt _that Robin had tried to injure him.

He did, however, plan that the two non-powered children would be used as a distraction and with a sneer of confidence, he glowers at them. "That's the best you can do?" Klarion snides with an unimpressed attitude that, truly, he only aims at Artemis (yeah, he remembers her name, he remembers _all_ of their names and he doesn't know why) because he just can't bring himself to mock Robin so harshly.

And the Lord of Chaos _loves_ mocking people.

This magician girl better get Nabu here _quick_.

The shield fades away and is replaced with a shiny bolt of electricity which runs from his fingertips to the two side-kicks. It zaps toward them before they can react, but it's only a show for the others, more specifically, the magician's daughter. It would certainly help for her to believe her friends are in more danger than they actually are because, although it makes an impressive shock as explodes just feet before Robin and Artemis, the vapor the lightning secretly transforms into is little more than a strong sleeping gas which makes both heroes drop to the ground.

"Thank you, Wotan," he mumbles gratitude to one of the older sorcerers he summoned earlier; he may not be the Lord of Manners, but transforming one spell into another was _hard_ and Wotan taught him without question of what the sleeping gas was for.

Klarion also makes sure none of the other heroes notice that Robin lands far too lightly to be considered injured from the blast he and Artemis supposedly suffered.

Then Project Kr is suddenly _right next to him_, so he whips up another shield to fully surround him and the pentagram before the clone can even think to stop and when the witch boy waits (uncharacteristically) patiently for three more dull _thud_s, signifying that Kid Flash, Aqualad and Miss Martian are exactly where he expected them to be and doing exactly what he expected them to do.

Yeah, he planned _everything_.

A girl with hair almost as dark as his own appears behind Project Kr and raises her gloved hands. "_Etativel mih ffo eht margatnep_!"

Klarion laughs, as in throws his head back and puts a hand to his chest with a howl of mocking mirth. The little white light that she threw at him didn't even leave a _scratch_ in his shield!

How _pathetic_.

Once he regains his composure, and it actually takes him a while to stop laughing at her, he sneers at her. "Baby magic," he coos in the most degrading tone he knows of.

Her face is flustered, probably from being laughed at so harshly, and she's standing straight with her fist balled at her sides and glaring at him. Klarion stifles his snickers at first, but soon begins laughing aloud again.

Her glare is as threatening as her magic.

He has his hand raised to send her flying like her spell tried to do to him, but then it clicks (and he's a little embarrassed it took him this long to realize this, especially since she's the only one that he hasn't recognized) that _this is the girl who can get Nabu_!

"Zatanna, move!"

Klarion turns to the voice even though the command was not directed to him. It's Aqualad - the sincere and dull member that is so boring, Klarion's mouth has stretched himself into a yawn just from the other's voice - with Project Kr following directly behind while Kid Flash struggles on the other side to get up after being ricocheted from the shield at the same speed he had tired to attack the witch boy with.

Aqualad is running toward the girl and Klarion realizes he still has his hand outstretched for an unspoken spell to get rid of the magician girl. He lowers his hand and shrugs at the confused looks of Aqualad and...Zatanna?

"It's been _fun_ catching up and all, but I need _you_," he points a clawed finger in the magician girl's direction, "to do me a favor."

As soon as the 'r' sound has left his lips, Klarion flicks his wrist and sends Aqualad into Project Kr and both fly into a nearby tree and magician girl lets out a soft gasp of shock and goes to protect the last one - Kid Flash, who was having trouble getting up after his run-in with Klarion's shield - but he has already predicted her moves and the speedster collapses as the Lord of Chaos does the same lightning morph into sleeping gas trick he did with Robin and Artemis.

Robin.

The remembrance of the spell's earlier victim sends one of those awful shakes down his spine.

Stupid withdraws.

He has to hurry before he gets any worse and goes back to the curled up position he's become sick of the past three weeks; to be honest, he planned on having more time before he became a bigger mess than he is now. Zatanna has only ran to Aqualad and Project Kr and put up a shield (that Klarion could destroy _without_ any magic), summoning Kid Flash over with a levitation spell and Klarion can see her twisting back to bring Robin and Artemis over, but he planned that and shouts the spell before she can even fully face her cast aside companions.

"_Etativel__ eht yob ot em_!"

Robin's body - which happens to be the closest unconscious sidekick to him, just as the witch boy planned - floats up and Klarion can only see a red blur as the Boy Wonder zips past the magician girl and into an opening his shield created for the child. As soon as the hole closes up, Robin's unconscious form drops heavily, but Klarion catches the boy to cradle him in black-clothed arms.

For being the smallest side-kick, the child weighed more than he looked. A lot more. With all the shakes and how tired he's been and how much weight he (thinks he) has lost, Klarion should have dropped him before even fully catching the boy.

And he does.

It's not a _hard_ drop, mind you. Klarion loses his grip on the boy as gently as he can, which ends with him toppling to the ground with Robin in his arms and both the conscious and unconscious boy end up in a cluttered heap on the ground.

"Ouch," it's a soft growl coming from lips placed beneath furrowed brows. He won't let go of the boy, he _can't_ let go of the boy, so Klarion shifts and squirms until he's sitting on the muddy ground with Robin sprawled out in front of him with the teen's head in his lap. The little sidekick's lips are slightly parted with slow, even breaths and the whites of the domino mask are pressed out against his eyelashes and Klarion can feel his mouth quirk up in a smile.

Hes touching Robin.

He's touching Robin.

He's touching Robin.

_He must have this boy_.

It's everything about him. It's the messy hair that sweeps in one direction on the right side and goes the other way for the left side. It's the button nose that sits so straight and curves up at the little tip where the gentlest indent lays. It's the pink lips that quiver with each exhale and have little cracks running along the edges. It's the high cheek bones that bump out against the black edges of the mask. It's even the lingering scent of the sleep gas that still clings to the boy. It's everything, everything, _everything_.

The witch boy arches his back as something swells within him and tells him to not let Robin go. Ever. The something tells him to coddle and protect the boy and keep him by his side at all times, to defend him and keep him safe at all costs. His life as a sidekick is too dangerous, he's always in harm's way, always tempting death and injury. Klarion has to shield the boy from that lifestyle. He has to guard Robin.

He simply _has_ to.

_Do not let him go. Do not ever let him go._

The Lord of Chaos is not known for his obedience, but he follows the order anyway because it's unlikely Klarion even has control over his own actions with the swelling and the desire to protect consuming more and more of him. He has already snapped his fingers, waiting for the quick arrival of a portal to his home realm where he will eagerly stay with Robin forever.

However, Klarion can not even stand up before Teekl's furious meow is heard and claws that he has personally sharpened himself on his familiar dig into his outstretched wrist.

The Lord of Chaos gives out in a cry of pain and flicks his arm forward in a successful effort to detach his familiar. "Teekl!" Snarls he, turning to face his attacker as the portal _swoosh_es shut with his loss of concentration, and clutches his bleeding wrist.

_Klarion! Think about what you're doing!_

"I am thinking, you stupid cat! I have to take him back home! I have to protect him from the-!"

_From his family? From his friends? This is _his_ world, Klarion. He would not survive in your realm!_

"Robin!"

Klarion does not respond to his familiar, but instead opts to glare with flaming eyes at the magician girl who has just finished levitating Artemis over (did all of that really happen faster than she could summon her friend over?). He does not like the way she called out for her companion, her voice portrayed something more than just concern for a friend, but at least the distractions have deflated the swelling feeling inside him.

"What do you want with him, you little creep?" She shrieks at him from behind the weak shield she has up protecting herself and her other friends.

"Nothing really," he draws out. He _loves_ being able to lie so easily, "it's _Nabu_ I want to speak with. But if he can't be _reached_ in time," he lifts Robin's head by the raven locks - oh yes, his hair is _so_ softer than Teekl's fur! - on the boy in a menacing way, "I think I could just take your little friend's life in exchange," the hand not holding the boy up glows a luminescent red and edges toward the teen's tender throat.

"Nabu?" Her voice breaks at the sight of his power crawling towards Robin. "What do you want with him?"

Klarion gives a dramatic sigh and raises his hand high above his head. "With all those questions, I guess he won't be reached in time."

Just as he swings his hand down, the magician girl screams "No!" Klarion hopes the she didn't notice that he paused his hand just above Robin's frail neck before she even screamed and waits for her to continue. "I'll get Nabu. I'll get him now."

"Good idea."

"Zatanna, no!"

Klarion looks around wildly for the voice. Who was left?

Just above the magician girl, a transparent outline moves among the trees, flitting in between them and around the tops.

Oh yeah.

Miss Martian.

Wasn't she taken out when she flew into his shield?

Apparently not.

He kinda forgot about her.

Since she's...you know...invisible.

"Would you like to see your little friend burn?" He coos, staring right into where he can sense her horrified eyes are and brings his hand, now enflamed with red again, closer to the boy's thin neck inch by inch.

"No! No, no, no!"

It's funny if he thinks about it. He planned for Robin to be the one he brought into his shield, the one he would hold hostage. Because he knows, as much as he hates it, that he could never hurt the child (and if he hurt any of the other sidekicks, Nabu would not come here to _talk_), that he's not even tempted to harm him, that he would never _allow _himself to lose control in Robin's presence in fear for the safety of the human child, yet these girls thought their friend's life was moments from calling a final act.

Though his plan wouldn't work if they didn't.

"Then _shut up_," Klarion purrs. He can't have any witnesses. "Actually, come closer."

"W-why?" She slowly fades into color and the Lord of Chaos shrugs; she was prettier in her picture.

"Time is ticking," the tips of his claws are nearly touching Robin's exposed throat. He can vaguely hear someone shout something, but he stays focused; nothing can hurt him, Teekl or Robin in their little bubble.

Miss Martian flies over to the shield with the threat of her friend, floating downward until her boots hit the ground. She takes tentative steps forward until she is only inches from his protection-dome.

"Do you know _why_ I'm doing this, naive little mind reader?" Get her off track, distract her with a nonsense question.

"Well, no," she makes the wonderful mistake of breaking eye contact with him, "I'm not suppose to re-."

Klarion throws out his burning red hand that was so close to Robin's throat and sends a firey ball of energy her way.

In her distraction, she only looks up when it's too late; her eyes widen and she goes to fly, but she is not fast enough. The blast hits her right in the chest and sends her flying backwards, landing in a crumpled mess so far away, out cold.

"_Witch boy_."

He knows that voice.

Klarion turns his gaze from the martian's unconscious body and up to a form high above him, with a golden helmet and a billowing cape.

"Nabu," he spits out with just as much venom, "I must speak with you."

* * *

_I know it's not as long as the first chapter - it's only 8 pages - but if I combine it with the next chapter, I'm afraid it'll be too long._

_And I'm up to 'Terrors' now, so both Artemis and Klarion have finally made their appearances! The next episode I watch is 'Homefront' and I'm so excited to see Robin and Artemis in action!_

**_Question of the__ Chapter:_**

_Which do you guys prefer: Chalant (Robin and Zatanna), Birdflash (Robin and Wally), Spitfire (Wally and Artemis) or all/a combination? Please answer because this WILL affect the story since Robin will have a little bit of confusion for everything._


	3. Blunt

_Dedicated to my 22 favoriters, 27 followers and my 21 reviews! This is the second most favorite/followed Young Justice story with the main characters of Richard and Klarion! (First place still is the worth **Scientifically Supernatural** by Sparki96!)_

_If everything goes as planned, I'd like to update every other Saturday! So watch for chapter four on the 20th!_

_The name of this chapter is **not** a drug-reference! It's the brusque and straight-to-the-point manner of speaking._

* * *

Klarion is a wonderful liar - not that anyone will say that because they're all unaware he's ever lied - but he can't convince himself that he's not scared right now. Nabu and his stupid powers and the girly black hair coming out in waves behind the Lord of Order are just a _little_ terrifying to the weakened, three-weeks of withdraws suffering Lord of Chaos. Okay, maybe not the feminine hair, but everything else about Doctor Fate is kind of scary.

Nabu throws blast after blast at his shield and the resounding _smack_s shake the dome of protection and the only conscious boy inside.

"Nabu!" He shouts and reaches for Teekl who is rubbing up against his side in a feeble attempt to comfort him.

He hates that she knows he's scared.

He hates that he's scared.

Klarion lifts Teekl up by her tummy, careful not to disturb the precious sleeping boy beside him, and raises his arms in Nabu's direction. He forces his elbows not to quiver and fails to convince himself that he's sure that Nabu won't hurt her. Teekl has taken a lot of abuse (mostly in the form of verbal from him) and she has more protection than the normal nine-lives creature with spells and enchantments, but she's never been so close to danger than she's about to be. A sinking chill settles in his stomach and he feels sick.

Go _away_ ice!

"What is this, witch boy?" Nabu holds both of his hands up, each sporting a fiery yellow orb, but at least he's not throwing them. Yet. Klarion tightens his hold on Teekl and silently crosses his fingers that this won't be the last time he feels her fur.

_Relax Klarion. Everything will work out as it must._

The Lord of Chaos gathers strength in his familiar's words, which help him to find his own. "I _said_, you bigoted idiot," maybe not the best choice of words (he had so many better insults), but the he hasn't had much practice in playing with others, "I must talk with you. It...it's an emergency."

"You are an untrustworthy creature, Klarion."

"Well that probably has something to do with being the Lord of Chaos, doesn't it?" His lips curve into a sneer and he shifts slightly to raise Robin's head to a nicer position on his legs. At least he has precious Boy Wonder to keep him warm. "That's why I'm letting you hold on to Teekl, thick head. So you can send me back if I try anything. I just...don't hurt her," his voice _so_ does notcrack.

He sets Teekl down and mutters a spell to sweep the dirt out of her path in a final _thank you_ before she trots over to the nearest edge of the shield and he allows the smallest opening possible for her to get through before shutting it quickly; he doesn't trust Nabu either.

But it's not like he has much of a choice at this point.

Klarion likes to believe he has surprised Nabu, but the eyes of the magician girl are too far away for him to see if they widen. Teekl prances over to directly beneath where Nabu is floating carelessly in the air and sits looking up at him, waiting nonchalantly for him to come down to her. The Lord of Order looks below to the tabby cat and, without so much as a _thought_ of hesitation, one of the fiery yellow orbs is flung at her in an agonizingly slow manner.

"No!" Klarion shrieks and whips out his hand from Robin's hair and - he's not thinking his actions through; his brain can't form any other thought than _Nabu just sent a blast to kill his familiar_ - and lunges over the child's body, momentarily forgetting his amazement of the Boy Wonder, to do _something_ to protect Teekl, but the ice returns at a shocking pace and freezes him. He watches, the scene before him moving so much faster than his own body, as the orb from Nabu sails toward Teekl, who doesn't even attempt to _freaking move out of the way_, and strikes her.

Okay, so it doesn't actually _strike_ her.

Or touch her.

Or hurt her.

In anyway.

Klarion, who's in a crumpled ball beside Robin from his poor attempt to reach Teekl, gazes upon his familiar surrounded in a glowing yellow dome, not unlike the one he's in himself. She is licking the dirt off her front paw again and hissing at the dust sharing the magical structure with her.

She's okay.

"I see your familiar has no secret sorcery abilities or hidden tricks," Nabu speaks and he's so much less threatening with the magician girl's voice underlying his own...and when he's not attacking Teekl. "That does not replace the fact that I have recently witnessed you attacking a Justice League member's sidekick," Nabu turns away from studying Teekl (well, more like the enchanted dome she's in that's most likely reciting information to him through his connection with it) to Miss Martian's lank form.

"I wish for no observers for this conversation," it's short and simple and he wishes for something a little more..._Lord of Chaos-y_ to give, something a little more badass than just wanting some privacy, but that's the honest answer.

Ugh.

The truth leaves a bad taste on his tongue.

"Then you should have used a sleeping spell; you should not have attacked her," Nabu chastises.

"I'll remember that for the next time I want to _chat _with you."

Both sorcerers stare at one another for a long time, one floating among the tree tops, the other on the ground covered in dirt (he can understand why Teekl hates it so), but neither willing to be the first to speak. The French gem of something or other wiggles violently in its place and Klarion feels a sharp shock and inwardly groans. His four companions in the adult's world have been overcome and defeated in less than three measly hours.

Boy, they sure don't make evil, immortal sorcerers like they used to.

Oh well.

"Does this emergency of yours have to do with your weakened state?"

"What?" He seethes. Weakened state? The Lord of Choas is _never _weak!

"You are ill, witch boy." It's not a question, it's not a statement, it's not even an insult; it's only an observation. "I could see it when I was first summoned, but I wished not to believe it; I thought it was merely an enchantment for me to foolishly believe I should not attack since a trait among the decent Lords of Elements is to never take the offensive with an opponent who is ill;" The witch boy can hear the insult so easily slipped in. Decent Lords of Elements? Thank Heavens Klarion wasn't one of _those_. The fear radiating off a pre-weakened opponents during an attack is a delicious thrill, "however, now I can see that your ailing is no trickery of light or devious spell. Whatever has taken you so sickly must be an emergency."

Eww.

Nabu sounds almost _caring_.

"I...I don't know where to start." So he had planned everything up until Nabu got here. Right now, he's..._winging it_.

"Is the beginning not obvious enough for you?" Huh, that almost sounds like a joke, but the Lord of Order _joking_? Surely, the world is ending.

Better explain everything quick before the end of time.

"Fine! I heard about Boy Wonder here," Klarion staggers back over to the unconscious body and, without really realizing it, he allows his dome of protection to slowly disintegrate around him. Nabu takes this as an invitation to drift over, levitating Teekl into the air with him (she's immensely relieved to be away from the dirt), and hovering several feet away from the witch boy. Klarion collapses back to Robin; he's been so..._not_ weak lately, especially with all that fighting and the ice freezing whatever energy he had left, so he sits by Robin and places a hand on the boy's chest, tracing the 'R' insignia with a careful claw. "And...everything went downhill from there."

"If you insist on my help, you must offer more detail."

"I heard about him, then I kinda became obsessed with him, then I protected him when he was on a," (heroic and noble and sweetly dedicated) "crime-fighting spree, then he just sets something off in me where I feel sick and just...awful when I'm not around him. Why? How do I get it to stop?" He's shaking during the entire speech - professing his weakness to Nabu was something he was not found of - but he would be so much worse off if he hadn't planned out part of it with Teekl. He manages to tear his eyes from Robin's peaceful face and up to Nabu's not-glaring-like-usual expression.

But the I-don't-hate-you-right-now look doesn't last for long when Nabu begins fading with a staticky manner and magician girl suddenly appears and with a gasp of confusion, begins dropping from where the Lord of Order was (seriously? She can't even levitate? Why is she even allowed to leave the _house_?), and Teekl drops to the ground as her containment structure fades with its creator, thankfully landing on her feet, but Nabu reappears just as quickly with a...shocked look.

It's a funny sight for the floating Doctor of Fate.

"The worlds are divided, the helmet is splitting you between them because you're an adult and she's a _baby_. You're not fully here, but I doubt she's strong enough to break your hold." He's positive Nabu understands what just happened, but Klarion explains it anyway, just for a brief chance to treat the Lord of Order like an idiot.

It's not an opportunity he gets very often.

With Teekl following slightly behind him, Nabu regains his composure and drifts closer and, out of instinct, Klarion crouches over Robin in a protective position.

"You are obsessed with the child." Nabu recaps.

"Yes, Deaf Ears, that's what I said, isn't it?"

"You feel ill whenever you are not around him."

"Is your hearing going beneath that helmet?"

"Lords of the Elements do not ever fall ill."

"No, we don't. That's kind of the problem, slow brain!"

To his surprise, Nabu ignores all the insults. "What happens to you when you see the boy?" Of course, his voice bellows as always (even when he's technically a girl), but his words are slow and this makes Klarion uneasy.

"I...get warm?" It sounds lame and it's an odd question for Nabu to ask, but he inquires with such a cautious tone that Klarion is beginning to become concerned and unsure of his answers.

"What was your reaction when you first saw the child?"

"In person? I had n-"

"It is not required to be face to face. Just the first time you ever had a visual of what the child looked like."

"I...was attacked by something," Klarion gives the shortest reply he can because he does _not_ want to think about that day.

"You must elaborate, Klarion." Nabu wanders closer, he's just a few feet away now, but Teekl is sure to stay behind him as to not look as if she's making for an escape, and his tone is pushy and almost...curious.

The witch boy scowls, but he did not plan all of this out and risk Teekl to turn back now. "I saw his picture and then something got inside me and attacked. I don't know what or who it was, but it felt like my chest was about to explode and then whatever it was knocked me out and I was asleep," because unconscious would be _unwillingly_ out, and the Lord of Chaos _never _does something he doesn't want to do...and if he does do something against his will, he's not going to _admit _it, "for a day. Now I...I...can't stop thinking about him," Klarion digs his claws into his hand without realizing it (but he's _still_ doing it willingly) and turns away to face Robin and the pressure of his black nails in his palm lessens as he listen's to the boy's steady and cute breaths.

"It felt as if something were expanding and then tearing itself, did it not?"

Klarion looks up wildly at Nabu with widened eyes. "How di...?" He is so shocked that he can not fund the words to end his question.

"Klarion," Nabu pauses (which is something very _un_-Nabu like) and appears to be re-thinking his next words, "I believe you have found a soul mate in the child."

Inhale.

What.

Exhale.

The.

Inhale.

_Hell_.

Exhale.

Klarion is so close to throwing a fit and screaming for an explanation - even Teekl, still behind the man/girl in the golden helmet meows in surprise - but then Nabu...chuckles. Does the Lord of Order even know _how_ to chuckle? Or even how to find something funny? The small noise of mirth surprises Klarion more than the news that he has a _soul mate_ because Nabu does _not_ chuckle. Oh goodness, it's a _weird_ noise, make it _stop_!

"What're you _giggling_ at, geezer?"

"Nelson believes-."

"Who?"

"I found humor in Kent Nelson's words, the man who passed away during our last encounter."

"Oh yeah," Klarion ponders, "the old guy." He should probably remember the (great-great-great) grandpa since he and Abra most likely caused his death with all the stress on his ancient body. "Well what _about _him?"

"He believes the hero-protege is a fitting 'spitfire', in his words, for someone of your nature."

"A _what_? Nevermind, he's old, he's crazy. What do you mean _soul mate_? That's not _possible_, Nabu!"

"Not only is it possible, witch boy, it is a necessity."

"Stop speaking in riddles and explain, or is your mind too far gone as well, old man?"

Nabu glares at him, but Klarion shrugs it off. "It is a lonely existence to live as long as the Lords of Elements do, Klarion. Fate has granted us each one soul mate to come across in our lives to give us someone to share some of our lifespan with. We all have one, whether you'd like one or not, who is compatible with what we do and who will enlighten a portion of our life. It is uncommon to say the least about finding your soul mate as young as you are."

"Young as _I_ am? I'm al-!"

"You are barely 3 centuries old, Klarion. Most of the soul mates are not even born until their respected Lord of an Element is well past the half-way millennium point of his lifespan, when they are more than twice your age. A soul mate is always determined by a Lord of an Element's reaction to the first visual of them. It is our bodies and minds forming an actual soul," Nabu's words are cut off when magician girl makes a reappearance and begins falling again, but Klarion simply waits until Nabu regains control over his host and levitates to his previous height. "It is our bodies and minds forming a soul, to humanize us one could say, for the first sighting is when our subconscious recognizes our mate. Our newly formed soul then splits itself and switches half of itself with half of our mate's and takes the human's measurement of a day to shut down the body and dedicate all functions to repairing and adjusting the halves of both souls now residing within us."

"Was there a manual or something I didn't get?" Klarion expected to get answers, but not such _thorough _answers.

"You find out by asking around; however, you are not of a social nature by any means."

"I'm asking you, aren't I? Besides, you're no party bug either, Nabu."

"I still have acquaintances. Even the Lord of Order does not understand everything."

"In other words, you're stupid. But what do I do now?"

"Protect him. No matter the cost." Of course Klarion is listening, but it would be nice to get a _reaction _to any of his insults. "He contains a part of you now; without him, you will perish. If your familiar ceases to live, you are sent back to your realm, but if your soul mate's life ends before his time, yours will as well."

This is too much to take in. Klarion turns back to Robin and outlines the rim of the mask with a mindful claw. He is calmed by the consistent rise and fall of the red-clothed chest and the wispy black hair ruffling in the harsh breeze and the chattering teeth...

When did it get windy out here?

And why are his teeth chattering?

Oh yeah, the human realm has these stupid _seasons_.

"Oh, carp," he mutters. Robin must be getting cold in the late fall air without the endless movement of a fight to keep his blood pumping and his body warm. Klarion wraps the edges of Robin's cape around the child's goose-bumped covered, lightly muscled arms in a feeble attempt to block the chilly wind, but the _click_ing of Boy Wonder's teeth doesn't stop. Klarion sighs in defeat and shrugs off his black suit jacket, fully revealing the white, long-sleeved dress shirt he usually donned. For what is likely the first time ever, he wishes he actually had body heat so the jacket would already be warm as he lays it on top of Robin's dainty form.

"He must be something special."

Klarion looks up at Nabu's words and raises an already arched eye-brow. "Of course he is. Not just anybody can be the Lord of Chaos' soul mate." He sneers, but misses the irony of how this all began because he couldn't figure out how Robin was special.

The witch boy knows he should be freaking out more, but he's not all that bothered by having Robin as a soul mate. He's not _happy_ his soul mate is a hero in the making or - worse yet - that he now technically has a _soul_, but the knowledge of how Robin is now connected to him makes Klarion warm even in the bitter wind without his jacket. And he's glad that the job of protecting the Boy Wonder is up to him because _nobody _is more fit to guard his soul mate than the Lord of Chaos.

"So I have to protect him now..." Klarion's words are softly spoken, but picked up and scattered by the wind and carried to Nabu's (well, the magician girl's) ears.

"How do you plan on doing that while you fight for opposing sides, witch boy?"

"I _always_ find a way to do what I want. I can protect him while he's on missions and stay hidden, I can keep the rest of the Light away from him."

If Nabu doesn't know who the Light is (which he shouldn't if the Injustice League did as good of a job as Vandal proclaimed), he doesn't question it. "If you are not around him constantly, you will only fall iller."

"_What_?"

"You have recently developed a soul and then had part of it torn away from you. You are still open and vulnera-," oh, magician girl's back and she squeals as she begins falling from Nabu's impressive height, but then the golden-helmet man returns and rightens himself once more. "You are still open and vulnerable, half of the newest addition to your body and mind is within him. You must stay by him."

_Awesome _time to mention that.

"Well then I'll sneak around and be by him as often as I can in the dark and in the shadows."

"You overestimate your abilities. It will unlikely be enough. You will be caught by him, his team mates and their mentors. I believe I may have an easier way."

"You're helping me?"

"I have just answered and explained to you everything you asked and I did not attack you in your time of vulnerability, yet you still find my intentions suspicious. I believe you and I can come to a compromise."

A compromise between the Lord of Order and the Lord of Chaos? "You think that'll work?"

"It will. Both of us will be happy."

Klarion likes his own happiness, he does not like his enemy's happiness.

Oh well.

"Explain," he demands in the bratty voice he just _loves _to use.

* * *

It takes a while for Nabu to explain his idea and for Klarion to question the flaws and work out the kinks, but it's settled within the hour. Klarion doesn't believe it'll actually work, but whatever. If it doesn't work, he'll just go back to his original plan of being in close proximity with Robin while hidden and he'll even be able to keep fighting Nabu.

So he carries Robin - because, as Nabu predicted, his strength was returning more with each moment he was by the boy and the little sidekick is extremely light, despite his muscle mass, when Klarion's not suffering from withdraws - over to where Artemis, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Project Kr all still lay unconscious (the last two actually woke up sometime during his conversation with Nabu, but he knocked them out before either could even stand up) while Nabu levitates Miss Martian over to the group. If all are together, no one (Boy Wonder) can be singled out by the heroes.

When they're done, the Lord of Chaos tugs his jacket on once more, walks confidently to the middle of his still bright circle, grasps the gem and bellows the same words he knows have already been cast in the other world: "Yam eht owt emoceb eno ecno erom!"

Wizard, Wotan, Felix and Black all reappear in their designated circles around him and collapse as soon as they returned to the now-one world containing both children and adults. Nabu covers them each in the escape-proof dome he had for Teekl, who's now comfortable and safely perched on her master's shoulder. All the heroes return as well, but none show any signs of being harmed.

One would think (hope) four of the most powerful sorcerers in the world would do a bit more damage.

He can count out Batman and Zatara (he's probably the father of magician girl), who looks up at Nabu possessing the magician girl's body and his eyes widen in wonderful horror (yep, that's a daddy), and Captain Marvel and Red Tornado (why was a _robot _transported to the adult's world?) and...that's it. Where are all the other Justice League members?

"Great Nabu," Zatara began with a humble bow, "is it true you have been conversing with this boy," he gestures to Klarion, but that's it. Why doesn't the _Lord of Chaos_ get a bow? "all this time?"

Klarion is slightly startled, both that the Justice League members don't attack him and that they knew he and Nabu had been discussing something the entire time.

"It is true."

"Why? Why simply sit and talk with the creature that separated children and parents, proteges and mentors? Why chat with the boy who attacked our children? Why possess my daughter" aha, he was right! "to _talk_?"

"Why are all of the Young Justice unconscious?" Captain Marvel turns to Klarion. "What did you do to them?" Ooh, All Brawn and No Brains is protective of the kiddies.

"Cease your questions!" Nabu commands. "All will be explained. Klarion has found his soul mate in one of your sidekicks."

Klarion snickers. He may not like Nabu, but he can appreciate his bluntness.

And the reactions are..._entertaining_.

"Holy macorole!"

"Nabu...you...you can't be serious!"

"Soul mates are a non-existent concept humans contrived in fairy tales to inspire children to marry for love or mutual enjoyment of a person and not for wealth."

"What was that?"

Klarion, who has never felt _embarrassment_ before, can almost feel his cheeks tinging red, but he elaborates for his situation nonetheless. "I know it's hard to believe that one of your sidekicks is _worthy _enough to be destined as _my _soul mate, but alas, it's true. One of them has the honor to be connected to me for life!"

"_Who_?" Zatara's face is almost as pale as his own.

"What?"

"I said _'Who_?'"

Klarion rolls his eyes at the magician with the horror-stricken face. He can sense this man is terrified that Fate had chosen his daughter to be paired with the Lord of Chaos for her life; normally he would have been offended that the father was horrified of his daughter being with Klarion, but the thought of having a soul mate in the magician girl and all her joke magic almost scares him as well. "None of your business!"

"Zatara," Batman calls in an authoritative voice and the pale magician obediently turns to him, "are you saying this soul mate thing actually happens in magic-users?"

"It is true; it happens for all sorcer-."

"I thought you said it was only for Lords of the Elements!" Klarion shouts at Nabu, turning his gaze to the ever-levitating figure.

"I also said that I do not know everything, witch boy. I assumed it was only for us, I was mistaken to do so."

"Is that your form of an apology?" The Lord of Chaos sneers, but Nabu has turned away and stopped listening.

Jerk.

"It is why I am so protective of Zatanna," Zatara says, looking down as if he admitted something he ought to be ashamed of. "Part is because she is my daughter, the joy of my life, but another is the fact that she is the only thing left I have of Sindella."

"So Zatanna is like half your soul mate?" Klarion laughs at Captain Marvel, who has slapped both hands over his mouth after his question.

"No!" Zatara assures. "She is the only thing I have _left _of my soul mate. Zatanna is created from her mother, but she _is_ not her mother. The protection I felt for Sindella transfers into our daughter for the bond between soul mates means we would gladly lay down our life for whoever we are destined to be with."

"You want us to believe that you're going to die for one of our proteges if you need to?" The black-clad man turns to the witch boy and asks in his monotone voice.

Klarion can not even consider hesitating before nodding his head in earnest, only thinking about the unspoken promise he just made after his head finishes bobbing. He hadn't really considered the possibility of dying for Robin. But he's immortal, so it's actually not a possibility.

"What do you want us to do about it?"

"Klarion and I have come to a mutual agreement that I believe everyone can benefit from," Nabu responds to Batman and the glare off between the two seems to _frighten_ Captain Marvel and Zatara. "He has agreed to use his abilities to your advantage and to cease mindless chaos," his chaos isn't _mindless_! "As he turns from his original side and onto your benefit, I no longer believe you will require my assistance in the future; ending chaos is my purpose and I have faith Klarion will be able to handle any situations requiring a Lord of an Element once he learns to control his temper." Temper? What temper? _He_ does _not _have a temper! "I am no longer needed here, so I plan to return to my home realm. Permanently."

Klarion snickers at the fact that Nabu left out about how old and tried he's becoming...though those weren't the others _exact _words. "_The wars here are tiring; I have been around for more than a millennium battling for humans. It would please me to stop fighting and spend some time rebuilding my home world from it's own troubles and rest_."

Old man.

"Where is this going?" Zatara does his best to keep Batman from interrupting the 'great' Nabu, but the man dressed as an animal ignores him. "I fail to see how we benefit from your leaving and having someone who has attacked our proteges on our side."

"For one," Nabu says in an annoyed tone and Klarion almost has a newfound respect for the hero. Not even _he _has been able to make Nabu use that tone.

But it's still an _almost_.

"You will be getting your daughter back as I will no longer require a host in this realm," Nabu nods to Zatara who looks as if he's on the verge of tears with the news. Pfft, baby. "You will have an insider on the Light, whom Klarion tells me you have been having difficulties with," all of them look confuse; explaining the Light will be a real joy. "You will have a Lord of an Element on your side without having to give someone up like you do for myself. You will be adding an extraordinary power to your team while taking it away from the opposing side."

Did Nabu just call his powers _extraordinary_?

It's about time he realized it.

"And just _what_," Batman turns to face the witch boy himself, "do you want in return from us?"

The Lord of Chaos opens his mouth to respond (he has no idea how to phrase it, but he usually doesn't know what kind of babble his mouth will answer) except Nabu cuts him short and answers for him in the most blunt way possible:

"I would like for you to allow Klarion to join the Young Justice."

* * *

_With the Author's Notes, this comes out to be 10 pages!_

_Okay, next episode for me is 'Colhearted' and I'm so confused with 'Failsafe', but whatever!_

_I also finally met Zatanna in 'Humanity' and I have to say: I don't like her. Maybe I'll come to appreciate her later in the series, but when she interrupted them in the middle of the telepathic communication with "_Are you guys having a psychic conversation? 'Cause I can't decide if that's cool, or really rude_," __I immediately thought 'if they wanted you to know about their conversation, they wouldn't be having it telepathically! Plus, they were obviously trying to hide it from Zatara and Black Canary, so you just kinda gave their secret conversation away...' However, I can understand why she's shipped with Robin and why they connect so quickly. She's as impulsive and tricky as he is, so they sorta work. I still don't ship them though...WitchBoyWonder/Klarobin forever._

_But there is a character I didn't think I would like that I actually do: Captain Marvel. He's so cute as a kid and so excited about the team and was so dedicated to serving Wally! I love him :) In case you guys didn't catch on, __Captain Marvel/Billy is who told Zatara, Batman and Red Tornado that Klarion and Nabu were only talking__. And he didn't ask them himself because he's too vulnerable in his kid-form and had to wait for the worlds to merge together once more._

_For some reason, in 'Denial', Klarion says 'oh carp' when Nabu almost hits him. Does anyone know why? Or is it like a kiddie-swear (like 'dang' or 'crap')?_

_Also, Klarion questions this briefly, but where are all the other adults in 'Misplaced'? Only Batman, Red Tornado, Zatara and Captain Marvel are ever around to fight Felix Faust, Wizard, Wotan and Black Briarthorn. Batman briefly mentions "The rest of the League has been deployed to avert the chaos," but I don't really understand that. So where's Flash and Green Arrow and Superman and Wonder Woman and Black Canary and the rest of them during the fight?_

_**Question of the Chapter:**__ (I would also like reviews of the chapter with the question! A lot of people just answer the question, which is totally fine, but not many people gave actual feedback on my writing last time.)_

_Should I bring in the whole Red-Arrow-is-actually-a-clone thing? Since Klarion is going to actually going to tell them everything to help the Justice League (which is just to get on Robin's good side). Or would that just be too confusing and take away from the plot as it is now and he should be just one person for this story (like the cloning thing just never happened)?_


	4. Acceptance

_33 favorites, 46 follows and 41 reviews!_

* * *

Everything is silent. Like eerie, creepy, _deadly_ silent. The boom of Nabu's words echos clearly in the resounding quiet, '_join the Young Justice_' rings through the trees and the expressed wish seems re-enforced with each repeat.

"_What_?" It becomes apparent that the echoing was not enough for Batman as he growls his question.

"I'm joining your sidekicks, numbskull."

Batman's eyes narrow in Klarion's direction, "unlikely."

"I gotta agree with Batman on this," Captain Marvel looks up at Nabu with cautious eyes, "after what he just did to the Team, we can't let him near them!" He sweeps past Nabu and Klarion, zooming over to the unconscious group by the tree with an indent caused by Aqualad and Project Kr's crash into it. He stops just in front of them and turns around to face the adults and the witch boy with his arms outstretched protectively, watching the Lords of an Element with quick eyes.

"I...I think Nabu's suggestion would be best." The magician's words are slow and his head hangs in wait for the rebuttal he knows he's going to get from his companions.

"Think this all the way through before saying that, Zatara."

"It is against odds the Team will be willing to accept him after all the damage he has done today and in the past."

"Zatara, no! He attacked the Team!"

"He did so because he was scared, correct?" The magician turns from the ground to Klarion who scowls in return.

"I was not _scared_! I just wa-!"

"Do not be ashamed to admit it, Klarion. Finding a soul mate is one of the most terrifying experiences you will ever go through. Especially when you have no one there to answer all the questions that arise."

"It was not _terri_-!"

"It's pleasant to know you feel that way, Zatara," Nabu boomed, attracting all the attention once more. "For I had hoped you would become the witch boy's mentor."

"Hey!" Klarion barked at the floating figure. "We did not talk about a mentor! I will _not_ be anybody's _sidekick_!"

"Fortunately, your consent is not needed for a mentor. Only Zatara's is."

He opens his mouth to argue and protest, but Teekl's voice in his head stops him. _Klarion, do as he says. If you need to be around the boy, you also need to sacrifice somethings. Your pride will be an excellent place to start_. She hops into his arms when she ends her persuasion (and insult) attempt.

On the inside, Klarion is fuming and throwing a tantrum at the thought of being _mentored_, but his peripheral vision catches Captain Marvel turning around to the teens to check over them and the sight makes him think of Robin, sleeping behind the giant hero, and the boy's...well the boy's _everything_.

"Fine," it's a bratty and unhappy response, but Nabu is only listening to Zatara.

"You know more about his situation than any of us do. If you believe that is best, Nabu, I shall take the boy under my wing."

Klarion finds it a little _odd_ that Zatara doesn't even give the slightest protest about being his mentor, but he's probably to eager to get the magician girl back.

"Come with me Zatara," Nabu lifts Wotan, Wizard, Felix and Black all in one motion. "I will take care of these four and discuss further issues that may arise with this situation and any concerns you may have. Then I shall release your daughter and I will require your help to get back to my home realm."

Zatara gives a curt nod and taps his cane on the ground; an illuminant circle surrounds his feet and slowly thickens into a platform that levitates him into the air, but he's distracted by Batman before he can reach Nabu's level.

"Zatara is not authorized to make decisions for the entire League or Young Justice," Batman narrows his eyes at Nabu and then turns to the magician. "How are you certain this isn't just some act from him?" Klarion scowls at the way Batman addressed him, but the black-donning hero keeps talking. "This could just be a plot to infiltrate our team and to attack us from the inside."

"Decent Sorcerers know never to use a soulmate as a tact for any deceiving motives. We never attack another's soulmate to get to them and we do not lie about who we share part of our lives with," Nabu chastises the man dressed as an animal in a correcting, mighty tone.

"Should the Lord of Chaos really be considered 'decent'?" Batman mused.

"It is true," Zatara proclaimed before Klarion could start shouting. "Magic-users will never use their mate for personal gain, even lying about their mate. It is an unspoken rule between all of us."

"But he's still a bad guy! Villains are _known_ for lying!" Shouts Captain Marvel, who has not moved a centimeter away from his younger companions.

Nabu is getting impatient with the situation, Klarion can see that even though he's the furthest from the Lord of Order, and he smiles at the other's annoyance and keeps the arrogant smirk on his face even when Nabu turns to face him and outstretches his hand to allow a bright yellow light to surround the witch boy. "Uoy lliw rewsna yltesnoh!" Doctor Fate bellows and Klarion's eyes widen; there's a spell to make people tell the truth? "Is your soul mate a part of the Young Justice?"

"Yes." He answers quickly, the words being ripped out of him before he can even comprehend the question.

"If you truly want to protect him at all costs, swear on your life, on _his_ life, that this is true!"

"I swear on my and his life that's it true!" Klarion wishes to grab the words and stuff them back. It's true, he wants nothing more than to protect Robin anymore, but swearing on his soul mate's life makes him feel nauseous.

Nabu lowers his hand and the yellow light around the Lord of Chaos disperses immediately, signaling the end of the spell. He turns back to the Zatara, Captain Marvel, Batman and Red Tornado, who stand with shocked, confused, unimpressed and lifeless eyes respectively. "Do you require further evidence that this is no longer a plot?"

"You...you..._ass_!" Klarion screeches, stuttering for the right word. "How dare you force the wor-!" Klarion has two balls of pure energy in his palms and brings them back in order to fling the fiery substances at the Lord of Order, but Nabu waves his hand at the witch boy and Klarion falls to his knees as his arms are bound in the horizontal line of a glowing ankh and the handle of the cross settles around his neck. He growls at the Doctor Fate and struggles; he knows no magic can end this _cage_.

Oh, how he _hates_ the ankh.

"You rotten, bitter old man!"

"Come with me Zatara," Nabu ignores Klarion's shouts of anger, "I believe you have several questions you would like to ask."

"I'll destroy you!"

Teekl, who leapt from her Master's arms before Nabu's signature spell could hit them both, squeezes her was between Klarion's body and the vertical part of the symbol that leans from the ground up to the witch boy's kneeling form and settles herself uncomfortably on his lap.

"I'm going to rip your head from your shoulders when I get the chance!"

"Zatara," it's Batman (_again_) calling for his co-worker before the raven magician can ascend to help Nabu "do you really believe this is for the best? I won't pretend I know anything about this _soulmates _ordeal, but I do know he's caused many problems for us in the past. He would be a very valuable aspect to the Team, but his training and questions over this particular subject would most likely be left up to you."

The magician looks away from everyone and sighs deeply, but doesn't speak. He is at a loss for the appropriate words he does not know.

Klarion shuts up for just a moment to decide what might happen if Zatara does not agree to be his mentor. He'd be immensely relieved at not being a _sidekick_, but if that meant the Justice Idiots would not accept him to work with the youths... Klarion suppresses the urge to shiver that the ice sends down his spine.

"However, if you think his joining is for the best...I'll vouch for him as well."

Klarion's head whips to Batman in surprise at those words (well, as far as it can with the ankh still on him) and his soulmate's mentor turns to him. "I remember how Zatara would get without Sindella after a while and it wasn't pretty. However, my reason stands with curiosity of the Light and when we've had difficulties with it."

"I'll tell you everything you want to know," he blurts out, mentally cursing his mouth for being quicker than him, even without being under a spell. Giving out the Light's secrets was a huge hazard...well it would be if the group was actually _threatening_ without the Lord of Chaos.

"If Batman thinks it's a good idea...I'll vouch for him too." Captain Marvel looks uneasily at Batman and relaxes just a bit in his defense of the children beneath him.

"The rest of the League will need much convincing, but having a Lord of an Element with us permanently will give us a great advantage over future attacks from the Injustice League."

Klarion ignores the urge to correct the machine; there will be time for that later.

"I shall inform you of all I know and what I believe the best path of action is and you may make your final decision then," Nabu advises and flies higher, just above the tree tops with Klarion's original four companions, as a silent urge to tell Zatara to hurry up.

"Very well," Zatara agrees softly. He and Doctor Fate share a look before the magician floats higher to catch up to the other and then they take off with Felix, Black, Wotan and Wizard to wherever Nabu saw fit for the four unconscious sorcerers to reside.

With Nabu's fading figure, then ankh around Klarion does the same; he stands up (angrily knocking Teekl to the ground) and brushes his pants off with an annoyed sigh. He debates flying up to attack Nabu's turned back as revenge, but decides against it.

Attacking the Lord of Order may not look well on his _resume_ for the Young Justice.

He turns to face the three remaining heroes, Batman, Red Tornado and Captain Marvel, who all stand far away from him with judging eyes (or, in one case, black mechanical holes). The former stares the later three down and vise versa, with no one talking.

Everything is silent again.

The creepy, eerie, _deadly_ silent.

But there is no echo to fill the void this time.

* * *

He's pleasantly shocked when the rest of the League arrives within five minutes. Batman had used some freaky device in his ear to speak to the members that aren't there and demand they show up in the middle of the deserted forest because "we're not showing you where our hide-out is unless the League says you can!" in the words of Captain Marvel.

The rest of the heroes show up relatively at the same time, most flying over the trees until they spot the four on the ground, and _wow_ there are a lot of them.

He can see Superman and Martian Man Hunter, who arrive shortly before the Flash. There's a man made out of what looks like pure silver, a man and a woman with gigantic wings protruding from their shoulders, Wonder Woman, two men glowing green with the same lantern symbol on both of their chests, each illuminate male with a large platform extending from what looks like their hand with two other heroes on either; a blonde woman, Aquaman, Red Arrow and Green Arrow and Klarion snickers at the last four.

Heroes that can't fly?

That's just as bad as not having any powers.

Once everyone is settled down and off their platforms, the Flash, Green Arrow, Aquaman and Martian Man Hunter hurry to their respective sidekicks with the blonde woman right behind them and Captain Marvel (who never moved from his protective spot in front of the teens) steps to the side for the concerned mentors while the rest all glare at him and Klarion smirks a little with all the attention.

"They're all going to be _fine_," he mocks the worry of the heroes, "I made sure not to hurt them too bad." He's briefly angered that Batman had never rushed to check Robin when he arrived, but his emotion is distracted by a reference to himself.

"This is the child, Batman?" The woman with wings asks and Klarion gives an approving look at the hefty mace in her hands.

"_Immortal being_," he corrects, but Batman talks over him.

"Yes. This is Klarion."

"And he wants to join the Young Justice why, again?" One of the glowing green men asks.

Batman sighs. "It's a long story. And...it's his story to tell."

One by one, all of the heroes, even the ones checking over their proteges, turn from Batman to Klarion, waiting for the witch boy to pick up the story that Batman just threw at him. And, for the first time in a very long time, Klarion forces his jaw shut before his mouth can answer without the consent of his mind and tries to think of something that won't immediately cause them to all shout disagreement to him joining their young ones and separating himself from his soulmate.

So he has to be careful.

He's not nervous.

_So_ not nervous.

He's just...

Uh...

He's just something that's _not _nervous, okay?

"Klarion, is it?" It's the blonde woman, the one who can't fly and ran to check the children when she arrived. He dumbly nods to her question. "Just start from the beginning. Lead us down the path that you took. Even the bad stuff," she smiles at him, "honesty earns you brownie points."

"Wait a second," Red Arrow steps away from the other young ones and Klarion is almost relieved that the pressure to fill the silence is no longer his. "We're not actually going to hear him out, are we?"

"Red Arrow-," The woman begins, but the hot head doesn't stop.

"He just attacked the Young Justice because he had _questions_. Why are we just standing around instead of getting them away from him?"

Getting them away from him?

Taking Robin away?

No, no, no, no, no, _no_.

He doesn't want to leave the boy again.

He doesn't want the withdraws.

He doesn't want the ice.

Klarion forces his mouth open before the ice of the idea can freeze him. "No!" All eyes turn to him, but his lips are on a roll. "I'll tell you everything! Just don't take them" (him) "away again." The _please_ is left lingering in the air and he can almost see _compassion_ in the blonde woman's eyes and he _hates_ that she feels something for him.

He doesn't need _compassion_.

He needs _Robin_.

"Lords of Elements," he has to start explaining before the idiot red-head starts shouting again. He pulls himself to his full height; he must remain confident and powerful, not weak and begging, "can have soulmates. Someone created to enlighten our lives for a while or something and in exchange, we have to be around them and we have to protect them." State the facts, stand tall, _persuade_ them. "C'mon, don't you guys care about your sidekicks enough to have someone around to protect them?"

"They do not need protecting," Red Arrow states.

"Well..." He's seen Robin fight; he's confident the boy will never need protecting. But he needs _some_ sort of comeback. "Zatara already agreed to be my mentor!" Okay, that direction works too.

"He agreed to talk to Nabu about being your mentor, not to actually follow through."

"I don't wanna be in this situation anymore than any of you want me to," Klarion speaks through Batman's counter point and looks all of the heroes in the eyes. "But I can't change it. And aren't you heroes all for protecting people and doing good things?" He waves his hand with a flourish to annunciate the list of their supposed duties.

Nobody disagrees with him; he hopes that his argument was good enough to make them actually consider his offer.

"Who is it?"

Klarion raises an eyebrow at the Man of Steel, who, surprisingly, never ran over to comfort his clone.

"Which one is your supposed soul mate?" He repeats when the witch boy does not answer.

"Well, what's your secret identity?"

"What?" Blue eyes widen in shock; he didn't see that one coming.

"There's a thing called privacy, don't worry about who it is!"

Superman looks stunned that somebody has talked back to him and Klarion smirks; being rude feels so _right_.

The Flash, who now holds his protege awkwardly in his arms, ducks his head to stifle his laugh at the conversation and waits before giving his own opinion. "So the kid is bounded to one of ours and wants to protect her. Why not let him? If four of the members are already saying yes for him, he can't be that awful."

Teekl, who scampered off to catch a mouse just before the rest arrived, hops onto his shoulders and nuzzles the side of his head and he scratches beneath her chin to elect a purr from his familiar.

"This entire night better not have been a waste," he murmurs to her as the heroes trade points about him back and forth.

_Have faith child. With Nabu's recommendation, they must accept you_.

"Nabu is not so great that his words override my chaos."

_If his words are not enough, we will figure something out. If it is your duty to protect the boy, then you will fulfill it._

"I _know_ that," he chides, "no one is better fit to protect my soul mate than me," Klarion boasts and raises his chin just a little with pride.

_Of course not_. He can hear the sarcasm in her thoughts.

"It's true and you know it. They'd be stupid not to let me in; none of them realize how serious we are about protecting our soulmate!"

_You just found out you were suppose to protect him less than an hour ago._

"So? I still feel the same way," a small ball of energy appeared in the hand that wasn't scratching Teekl. "If anybody tries to hurt him, I'll incinerate them." He snaps his fingers and the fire in his palm dispersed.

_And in the case that his friends are in harm's way? I believe they expect you to work with all of the Young Justice, not just him. Are you willing to help the children you hate?_

"We'll see how happy his friends make him; if they're not good at making his smile, I may not be good at protecting them," he pauses and feels sick again. "I may not even have to protect any of them if they don't let me in," he casts a side glance at Teekl, who nudges his temple with her nose.

_Have you thought about what you'll do if you are rejected?_

"I'll follow him wherever he goes," it's the same thing he told Nabu, but that's all he really has. "I'll protect him from the shadows and be by him as often as I can. I won't let him live this life without a form of protection."

It's odd really. He has never felt so protective over anything, even Teekl, and he had only heard of the boy a few short months ago and didn't even understand his job to guard the boy until today, but he can feel urge to watch over him and defend him as though it was an instinct he was born with.

_You are certainly protective of him_.

"I have to be. He's so...little," his voice drops without his command. "He could be hurt so easily, this life...it's too dangerous. I know he can protect himself, he's..._amazing_ at what he does, but one day, he might meet something that he can't defend himself from," he gasps at the ice and shudders, "and I need to be there to protect him when that day comes."

He waits silently for Teekl to respond and when she doesn't, he turns his head from the ground to his familiar and watches her watch the scene in front of them. He turns his gaze to the heroes to find them already looking at him.

"Was he just talking to the cat?"

Klarion glowers at the Flash and his question whispered incredulously to the man with wings beside him.

"I think we've all heard enough," the blonde woman speaks again and smiles warmly at him in what is meant to be a comforting act, but actually freaks the witch boy out just a little. "I vote for him to join."

* * *

"A gigantic, mile high mountain right next to a beach and town bustling with people? You couldn't find any place a little more eye-catching?" Klarion openly mocks as he drops beside the heroes of flight and the pathetic ones that step off the platforms from the glowing green men. "Was the sun out of the question?"

They all ignore his snide comment (he's made about a dozen on the way, ranging from yawn-inducing powers to rumors he's heard from the Light) and wait for Batman to fiddle with a device on his wrist for the ground beneath them to open up and sink down into the ground, revealing a steep decline to an entrance under the mountain.

"Or perhaps the Earth's core suits you all best," he mutters as he follows them all in, not bothering with walking and instead floating above them with Teekl in his arms. He stays particularly close to the dark man who has a glowing green bed extended from his hand with all 6 of the Young Justice members unconsciously on top of it.

"It would be best for the Team to stay here for the night as would any of us that can stay as well," Batman decides for all of them. "We'll wait for the entire Team to regain consciousness and bring the matter up to them."

"Which should be...?"

"Everyone will be waking up at a different time," Klarion states as if it's the most obvious answer to exist for Red Arrow's question. "They'll all be up within 24 hours."

"You saw it necessary to put them out for a full day?" The red-head accuses. Thankfully, the words '_I was out for the same amount of time and nothing happened to me!_' can't leave the Lord of Chaos' lips before someone interrupts.

"I suppose _we_," Green Arrow grabs the Flash's arm, "have certain people to call about _why _certain children will not be returning for the night." He shoots a glare at Klarion with more force than any of his precious arrows.

The witch boy grins and waves as the two leave in a huff.

"Green Lantern, Black Canary," Batman addresses the blonde woman and the man with the floating bed for the teens and Klarion ponders whether or not he should store their names.

Nah.

"Take the Team to their respective bedrooms and guest rooms and make sure they are situated comfortably." The two nod and begin down one of the many halls and Klarion makes to follow after them, but Batman's hand intervenes his journey. "You will be staying separate from the Team until Zatara returns with his decision."

Klarion's eyes widen against his will. He has become so used to Robin and being no less than twenty feet from the boy for the past several hours. He can not lose him now.

"Batman latches on to the newest addition's shoulder before he can make to follow his soul mate, "Until then, you will be staying with me."

* * *

"You can't start a fire at the bottom of the ocean!"

"His daughter is a whale? That...that doesn't even further the show! Why can't she be a crab? What does being a whale do to progress the series?"

"How does it snow underwater? Water doesn't even have _weather _conditions!"

"If it bothers you so much," Red Arrow barks from where he stands with Batman after the latest comment from the witch boy, "why not just change the channel?"

"This is why you humans are so stupid. You sit your children in front of things like this and then complain your youths are idiots," Klarion turns away from the talking sponge and starfish on the television to bite back a response to the archer, but avoiding the question entirely. "If any of your sidekicks grew up on stuff like this, you should be _begging_ me to protect them on missions. Their own stupidity will get them killed."

"_Recognize Zatara, 1-1_."

Klarion turns from the two heroes that have stayed with him, whispering phrases he doesn't care to listen to under their breaths, to watch an indented curve in the wall glow brightly and have the magician - his possible mentor - step out from the light. He looks wearily at the three before him in an expression of greeting, but swipes his hand on an empty spot of the wall he just appeared from and fiercely hits a few keys.

"_Access granted. Zatanna Zatara, A-0-3. Authorization: Zatara, 1-1_."

The magician girl, Zatanna, stumbles through the once-again glowing indent and sways on her feet beside her father, who wraps an arm around her shoulders to help the world steady-out for his daughter.

"Past your bed-time, Baby Magic?"

Through her sleep-deprived eyes, she manages to glare at the witch boy while slumping against her father's stable figure.

It's still not threatening.

"Zatara," Batman draws the attention to himself, "are you up for a meeting at this hour."

"What _is_ this hour?" Red Arrow ponders and rubs his eyes.

"Almost four."

"I...yes. I am able to participate now. I'd prefer we do not push this off until morning."

"It _is_ morning."

Batman ignores the red-head's begrudging comment. "Good. Take Zatanna to one of the guest rooms with the other members of the Team and wake up the Justice League."

Zatara nods dutifully and all but carries his daughter down the hall. Klarion grimaces; Batman better not ever give _him_ orders like that.

"Klarion, come with us," Batman doesn't notice the twitch of Klarion's fingers, only that the Lord of Chaos makes no step to move.

"Oh, come off it," Red Arrow snaps at him. "If you want to be on the Young Justice so bad, don't expect a 'please' and 'thank you' for everything. Get used to taking orders, that seems to be all that they do." The last phrase is directed at Batman who matches the archer's glare with just as much anger, but lacks the bitterness the red-head has.

Klarion watches the exchange of soft-fury, but walks up to the two of them without complaint (think of Robin, do this for him, just think of Robin), leaving the television on his wake with the main, yellow character running all sorts of electrical appliances _under water_.

They stalk off in heavy silence down the hall opposite of where everyone has been sleeping for so long. Klarion ponders each door the pass and wonders how they don't get lost in the gigantic place. Finally, the three come to a wide, bare room, save for the circular table and chairs surrounding it in the middle of the floor.

Batman takes a seat furthest from the door while Red Arrow leans against the wall and Klarion gives him a curios look.

"I'm not a part of the Young Justice or the League," he snaps. "I have no say in the meetings; I'm only watching."

"Then, _why_ are you even here?"

"An evil being who has attacked my friends _twice_ in the past wants to be their protector. I don't trust you with them."

"Well it's a good thing your vote won't count then," Klarion sneers as he stalks to the table and leans against the side, drumming his fingers on Teekl's sleeping head and she meows at him in her sleep.

One-by-one, the members of the Justice League slip into the room, most with eyes half-closed and even more in pajamas. The last one in is a weary Zatara who closes the door behind him.

"Zatara," Batman addresses the lone figure pulling out a seat for himself and many of the members look up disgruntled at his voice, "I trust you have made a decision."

"I have. I will be Klarion's mentor," the witch boy is ecstatic and deflated simultaneously with the news, "however," oh no, no, no, no. Not a _however_! "I think it would be best if we took turns so to speak."

This catches the attention of the sleepy League members who all blink owlishly at the request. The confusion quickly morphs into a contest of who can protest the idea the fastest and the loudest and Klarion scowls through the noise.

It's an _honor_ to be his mentor!

They each ought to be begging to get it, not pushing the idea to get stuck with anyone that isn't themself.

"Enough!" Batman barks at them all and the those who were arguing now sit quietly like the rare few who did not object the idea. "Zatara, why do you think that is best?"

"I have no experience being a mentor and little experience with the Young Justice themselves. I have Zatanna to teach already and to take care of and I rarely have the opportunity to arrive to the Cave quick enough for any emergency missions," he sighs. "If I must, I will take full responsibility for him, but I see it most fit if I receive help from the rest of you, especially those who have had practice with the Young Justice and those whoever is the den mother at the time."

The League all sit in silence and ponder over the magician's words. Klarion, with blood boiling, can not stand the idea of having a mentor, let alone _multiple_ people to tell him what to do!

"I will take responsibility for any questions he has for the situation and any sorcery ordeals, but for moral support and living situations, I would appreciate help."

"I'll help," the blonde woman - Black Bird? - offers and pulls attention to herself. "I'm here almost everyday for training and I'll be the den mother again if I must," she answers the questions nobody voiced. "I would also like to reinstate therapy sessions again for the Team. Make sure they adjust well to a new teammate, express any concerns they have in a private area. And," she turns to the witch boy who has backed away from the table in an effort not to tear her throat out for encouraging the idea of multiple mentors, "I would like for you to be a part of this as well, Klarion. It would be a healthy way to express your confusion and possible disco-."

"I do _not_ need therapy!" He shouts when he finds his voice amidst his anger.

"If one is all I can get, I shall take it," Zatara nods to the woman. "Thank you, Black Canary, for easing this duty on me."

Klarion fumes and continues to glare at the woman, at _Black Canary_, who returns his scowl with a small, sympathetic smile.

He decides right then that he does not like anybody smiling at him.

Except for Robin. Robin must have a beautiful smile.

The thought of the lovely boy that now shares part of his soul forces Klarion's eyes to soften and his face to relax and his lips to pull up into a dopey smile that isn't anywhere as wonderful as Robin's will be. He doesn't realize the up-curve of his lips until his eyes catch the movement of Black Canary's smile widening and he remembers that he's still looking in her direction and, apparently, smiling at his new mentor.

Damn it.

"Now then," Batman's voice pulls Klarion out of his thoughts. "I want to know what the Light is."

* * *

_12 pages (including Author's Notes)! Awesome!_

_I actually haven't gotten any further in watching the Young Justice series; I've had plenty of time to watch it, but for some reason, I just haven't. I've got the rest of the episodes on DVD from my local library, I just haven't popped 'em in. I dunno why._

_If you're wondering why Black Canary was rather prominent in this chapter compared to the other JL members, it's because she's my favorite (adult) hero. I love her._

_Sorry if the layout of the Cave sounds kind of messed up; I just tried going off of what I've seen so far and what my imagination comes up with :)_

_An **ankh** is what Nabu uses in nearly every episode he's in; it's pretty much a cross with a handle._

_**As for the whole Red Arrow thing**__, I've got something else coming up. It's still going to be Red Arrow/the Light-related, just not the clone thing. Fairly similar to it though. In fact, almost identical. Just...without the clone._

_Anyone else find it a little funny that this is posted on 4/20 and the last chapter was titled 'Blunt'?_

_I received a review/favorite/alert from __**Sparkie96 **__(the author of 'Scientifically Supernatural') and I totally had a fan-girl moment and held my breath to not squeal in joy (since I read the review on my phone in a friend's car on the way to camp counselor training [which is mentioned below] and didn't want her to freak out)._

_Also, a major thanks to __**s8trgrlhinata**__ who advertised this story in her infamous 'Hellfire' (which is a great story all about Robin being lusted after by an insane criminal)._

_Lastly, __**it is unlikely I will be able to update in 2 Sundays**__. I'll be volunteering as a counselor at a camp (if you know anyone 8-13-year-old in the Michigan/Ohio region, send them to SuperCamp! We need more campers!) from the 3__rd__-5__th__. We have themed meals for the counselors and one theme is 'Superheroes vs. Villains' and I'm dressing as Harley Quinn :D I have a lot of preparing left and another story idea (which may have been influenced by my costume): a motherly!HarleyQuinn/injurred!Robin fic. To be honest, I plan on it being really dark and not very fluffy :P Like the Joker may or may not (non-graphically) rape Robin._

_I also have 2 AP tests to worry over and some homework I should really do..._

_So, how about the next chapter comes out in **less than a month**? I know that seems like a long time (and it is), but I get out of school shortly after (June 6)! That's almost an extra third of my week opening up!_

_**Question of the Chapter**__:_

_How did you come across this story? (Did you do what I do and just watch for new YJ stories involving Klarion? Was I already on your Author Alert list? Was it recommended [like in 'Hellfire']?)_


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